


Mortal Immortal

by alltimelilly



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky returns much later than canon, Everyone is friends, F/M, Female Reader, Gen, Pietro Lives, Rated Teen for violence and swearing, Temporary Character Death, after aou, no civil war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 20:06:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 37,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11676159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltimelilly/pseuds/alltimelilly
Summary: After the Battle of Ultron, world threats died down. Sure, there was the occasional villain, but they didn’t leave a dent. With your amazing power of immortality, reactive evolution, and power mimicking, you are needed all over the world so you can help as many people as possible. However, your home is with the Avengers. There is a catch with your powers, though, like most things that are insanely powerful. This catch causes a lot of problems when a past lover comes back into your life, and the world is in immediate danger.





	1. August 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my new series! So, this is going to be a daily posted series! Posted every day, hopefully around the same time but things could differ depending on what I have going on. Feel free to send in questions about the series and I’d love to hear your feedback! 
> 
> If you like this, check out my tumblr for more: [That-Sokovian-Bastard](http://that-sokovian-bastard.tumblr.com/)

Training the newer recruits in the program was one of the easiest tasks you had to work with. Granted, you only had to work with the enhanced members, but it was still easier than any other job you could have been given, and sure, they already know a bit of what they're doing. They've been with the Avengers for a while, but no one knew how to help them like you did. Plus, there are always things to learn, and Pietro and Wanda have barely cracked the code into their powers; which is where you come in. Sam had already worked with Steve, Vision is JARVIS reincarnated, and Rhodey has worked with Tony for longer than anyone knew- not to mention being in the military. That left you, arguably one of the most powerful members of the team, to beat Wanda and Pietro into shape.

With you being gone for so long, it was no surprise that the twins didn't know much about you. You had been around the world, helping other parts wherever you could. With everything you can do, it made sense for you to be the one to work with higher powers most days out of the year.

To be honest, the twins were surprised you were chosen to work with them. You had missed the battle of Sokovia due to working with the government on the other side of the world (where your powers were needed) but arrived as soon as Steve called asking for your help. Pietro was almost killed by Ultron, but miraculously survived. You know how that works, though, being immortal and all. He may not be immortal, but with the help of Doctor Cho's cradle and speedster healing, he was back on his feet in merely a few weeks. And ready to help defend the world, with his sister right by your side.

Neither of them wanted to mention it, but they were giving you the looks of confusion as you explained the training process. You stopped explaining and realized you should tell them about yourself, and why you're so important. "All right, Wanda, show me what you've got," You told her.

Wanda looked at you with a raised eyebrow. "W-what?" She said, her voice hoarse.

"I figured if I'm going to be training you, I should know the full extent of what I'm dealing with. Minus the nightmares, please, I've heard about those," You added with a small smile, hoping she wouldn't take it the wrong way.

She didn't, and Wanda shrugged as she started moving her hands around like one big magic act. She bit her lip in concentration and grunted when she threw a ball of energy at you. Right before the energy hit you, your whole body turned into stone to repel the energy, and it dissolved into the air. "Whew!" You screeched when you turned back into your normal body, only seeing the twins have their jaws dropped. "Oh, right, I should mention that I'm immortal- and have the power of reactive evolution. Which is basically Darwin's theory, if you know what I mean- I adapt to survive," You rambled on. Honestly, you forgot that they didn't know about your powers, and you haven't seen a reaction like they had to you ever since you met Tony Stark and showed him he was nothing up against you.

"All right, Speedy, show me what you got."

Pietro cracked his knuckles and shrugged, throwing a smirk at his sister before taking off running. You watched in awe as you saw how fast he was, fast enough to create a blue and silver blur. Your eyes followed him and waited for his attack. He slid on the floor at full speed and kicked your feet, knocking you down, but it was exactly what you expected. "Nice job," You complimented as you sat on the floor.

He stood with his arms on his hips and a smirk evident in the middle of his face. "Ha, I win-"

"I mean, it was a good try," You shrugged, and before Pietro had time to process what you said, your body turned into goo and you slide around him, reforming quickly and standing behind him. You kicked him in the back with the extra strength you gave yourself and sent him flying across the room. "You  _always_  have to be on your toes."

Pietro groaned and rolled his eyes as he pushed himself off the floor. "I'll give you this: I did not see that coming."

Wanda ran over and jumped next to you. "That's insane! I've never seen anyone with powers like yours before- If you don't mind me asking, how did you get your powers?" 

You shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not very sure. Pretty sure I was born with them, but neither of my parents were like me- or that I know of," You explained. "It just happened."

"You're pretty badass, (Y/N)," Pietro complimented when he walked closer to you. "So, are you single?"

"Yes, and it's probably a good thing, honestly," You shrugged, getting a more confused look from the two. "Love is very complicated when it comes to me."

Pietro swiftly put his arm around you and smiled. "I'm sure it's not that complicated, I could help you out," He told you, tossing a wink in as well.

You smiled back. "I am about 1800 years old," You told him. "Do you really want to hit this?"

Pietro's jaw dropped and you stepped away from him. "You're- how have you survived this long? That many years?" He gasped, barely finding the right words, and hoping not to offend you.

Truly, nothing said about your life or powers really offended you anymore. Once people found out what you were, they had a million questions and said the strangest things. It all flew past you, especially in this moment when you believed Pietro has good intentions, just hard to talk about. "Well, for about half my life I actually lived in hiding because of all the shit this world was going through," You shrugged. "But I am immortal, I don't die, so that's how I'm still here," You tried to explain. Immortality was not the easiest thing to explain because there are so many ways it could be proven impossible. Your immortality probably comes hand-in-hand with the adapt to survive powers as well, but that was suspected. 

"Well, is there a way for you to die?" Wanda asked, then covered her mouth in fear. "I'm sorry, that sounded rude! I don't  _want_  you to die, I don't, I'm just...curious."

You thought for a minute. "I mean...I guess there is a way," You said. You had only experienced it a few times, but enough to understand how it works. "It's all because of love."


	2. August 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After yesterday's training session turned into learning more about you, it was time to actually work with the twins. Pietro was first, and by showing him another part of your power that is less awesome than it sounds, you show him how to work up to his full ability. Then, more friends join the mix, and more fun ensues!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First few parts are introducing this universe, so if it goes a bit slow right now, I promise it will pick up tomorrow. I just want to make sure this universe is established and understood, and by building this up right now will be worth it in the end!

The rest of the Tuesday consisted of the Maximoff's asking a million questions about your life. Meaning: you got no training done. The only thing you learned about them was their powers and what they need to work on, and yet, they learned so much about you.

Today you were determined to get through all the things you didn't get accomplished yesterday. Starting with explaining what needs to be taught and things on your list.

"So, Pietro, have you noticed that when you run most times you create lightning?" You asked.

Pietro thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess," He shrugged.

You smiled and clapped your hands together. "All right. Have you ever tried throwing it?"

Pietro's eyebrows raised and he leaned forward a little. "What? Say again?"

You smiled, a small giggle followed. "Have you ever tried to throw the lightning your speed creates?"

"No?" Pietro laughed and turned back to Wanda. "E nebună?"  _(is she crazy?)_

Wanda shrugged and made a "shoo" motion with her hands, going to speak Sokovian back to her brother. "Doar ascultă-o!"  _(Just listen to her.)_

You laughed along with them. "Nebun? Doar putin."  _(Crazy? Only a little.)_

Again, the twins look at you like you had three heads. "You speak Sokovian?" Wanda asked, sounding excited that someone on the team knew their language as well.

"Yeah, after being alive for so long, I know a ton of languages. I spent quite a few years in Sokovia and learned it. You'd be surprised by all the languages I know," You told them. "Now, Pietro, I'm going to teach you to throw lightning. And we are not getting distracted!" You pointed. "Wanda, you can go work with Vision, because it might take a while to work on this task," You nodded.

Wanda smiled and agreed. "I'll see you guys later, then," She walked out of the training room, leaving you with Pietro.

You turned to him. "All right, so a little secret comes along with my powers, yeah?" You asked, no response from Pietro. "I can use them to gain other powers for a limited time, you know, in addition to Darwin's theory," You told him.

"O-oh, cool!" He spat out. "Does that mean you're going to give yourself my speed?"

"Well, how else are you going to learn to do it? Learning from seeing someone else do it is a whole lot easier than me trying to tell you to do it and expect you to understand by just words," You said. "Now, watch."

In a second, a flash of yellow engulfed the room, showing that you now have the speedster powers. With a sigh, you quickly made a vacuum around the room with your new speed and harnessed the energy from the speed, grabbing the lightning, and tossing it at the dummy in the corner of the room. Slowing down, you took a deep breath and wiped your hands off. "That always gives me an adrenaline rush! Did you see that, Pietro? We're going to have you learn that."

Pietro tried to form words but all he could do was make sounds that sounded like a baby trying to speak for the first time. That, or the first meeting between you and Tony Stark. Either way, you found it extremely hilarious.

"Let's get started, shall we?" You asked as you walked closer to him. "You know how to make a vacuum, I'm positive. So after the vacuum is made, instead of letting the extra energy fall behind you into nothing, you need to focus to harness the power to be closer to you. Once enough is built up, you can grab the lightning your extra energy made and throw it right at the dummy," You explained. "But that's a lot, so let's just start with making the vacuum and focusing the energy elsewhere."

Pietro, still silent, nodded and began running. You watched as he created the vacuum, and could tell he had the energy closer to him, but he swore at himself and landed on his face when it all fell apart. It was going to be a long day.

\---

Finally, after three hours of failing and many broken things in the training room, Pietro was finally catching on. At first, he kept falling because of the energy being too close and uncontrolled, causing it all to disperse and him to start over again. Then, he was able to keep the lightning energy at the right distance, but when he would go to grab it, the timing would be off and the chance would be gone, or he would miss. After he finally got down grabbing the lightning, he kept missing the dummy. Many windows and lights were broken, but in the last half hour of working on this, he hit the dummy twice.

Of course, more work was going to be needed, but he was getting it. And that was enough for you for the first day of practice. Typically, the team would go into the kitchen and get food as needed, or use Tony's credit card to get take-out, but you were hoping that Steve and Natasha remembered about your plan to eat together. This "together" included you, Steve. Natasha, Pietro, Wanda, and Vision as a guest who does not eat. Since you sent Wanda to spend the day with Vision, it would have been rude to exclude him- but you didn't mind, he's always fun to have around.

And to your surprise, you and Pietro walked into the kitchen to find Wanda cooking with Steve and Natasha helping. Vision was sitting on the barstool across from them, watching with a satisfied smile on his face. "This all looks amazing! What are we making?" You asked.

"(Y/N)!" Natasha smiled to you, "Nice of you to join us!"

You laughed and rolled your eyes. "I was working on Pietro's powers, come on, don't give me that shit," You reminded her.

Natasha gave you a look that meant she was just messing with you, and it made Steve and Wanda chuckle. "I'm making a dish that I remember from Sokovia- perfect for a big meal with friends," Wanda nodded and continued cutting ingredients and directing the other two on what to do.

"I would help, but seeing as I never need to eat, I would be unsure if I was doing it correctly," Vision clarified.

You and Pietro quickly joined in to help the prep, making comments and conversation with the group. Everyone was excited to be having a sit-down meal for once, and to catch up with the people who have been away on missions. Natasha and Steve are insanely busy, you were lucky to have both of your best friends home at the same time to do this.

Telling the group about your day, listening to Wanda and Vision's day, and hearing about the missions Natasha and Steve were on, Steve cleared his throat to call attention to himself. "I hate to tell you this, (Y/N), especially since I just got back...but tomorrow I leave with Sam on another mission. Don't ask, please, it's one I can't talk about until it's done," Steve rambled on. "But, it should only be a few days, so it won't be long."

You pouted. "I can't believe you're leaving me again!"

Steve chuckled and looked around the table at his friends. "Well, I think we all deserve a break after this as well, let's all watch a movie together before we get back to work tomorrow," He offered his idea.

"I could use the break," Natasha said and took a bite of her food.

"I love movies!" Wanda smiled. "So, I will always relax enough to watch one."

Pietro and Vision also added that they had no plans and were ready for the movie as soon as it was wanted.

"I guess we're watching a movie!" You squealed. And after dinner, the six of you gathered around the TV to watch a few cartoons. You in between Steve and Natasha, happy to have your closest friends by you for a night. Who knows when something could change, you need to value everything while you have it. You've seen too many friends pass, you weren't going to waste the good things you have.

All of you fell asleep during the third movie.


	3. August 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saying goodbye again to Steve and Sam makes for a tiring breakfast. Now it's Wanda's turn for some training. That is, until, FRIDAY calls everyone to the lab with an urgent announcement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's getting more action-y!!!

Thursday's were the days that gave you hope about getting through the week, but also a day that made everything drag on because it wasn't the weekend yet. Yes, a superhero's job never stops, but you also work hand-in-hand with the government many months out of the year thanks to your powers. They trust you and you are the most powerful on the Avengers, so it is your job to create reports and report problems that could be going on, and the days off from that are the weekends.

But trudging out of the living room, from the previous movie night, in your best and most stylish pajamas and unbrushed hair, you met part of your team in the kitchen for breakfast. "Morning my most favorite people ever- and Sam," You smiled as you walked to the cupboard, receiving a joking punch from Sam when he went past you. "Love you," You whispered.

Looking to the group gathered around the table, you could tell Natasha slept terribly and Steve regretted not getting a good few hours of sleep in his own bed. Sam looked refreshed and happy that he was the one who took care of himself, and the twins and Vision were nowhere to be found. You grabbed the cereal you like and started preparing your food. "So, what's the mission?" You asked, quietly, hoping they would actually tell you.

Steve laughed. "Good try, (Y/N), but I've known you for far too long to let anything slip. It's confidential anyway, Natasha doesn't even know."

Natasha's head snapped up when she heard her name and looked with tired eyes. "I tried, he won't tell me anything," She sighed, standing up to grab a cup.

Breakfast went by quickly with barely any commentary from the group because of the tiredness. Your blinks were becoming longer and you desperately needed a nap, but you were forcing yourself to stay awake to send off Sam and Steve. After they finished eating, Steve came up behind you and patted your shoulders. "I'll be back in a few days, okay? Don't die without me!" Steve smiled and walked out with Sam, waving goodbye to you through the window.

The pair walked down to the quinjet hanger, meeting Tony and the agents to be ready for departure. Tony looked concerned, and there was no hiding it. "What's that look for?" Steve asked with a small laugh as he approached Tony.

Tony sighed and crossed his arms. "Are you sure you two want to go? I can just send some SHIELD agents to-"

"You know Steve is going to say no," Sam rolled his eyes. "Plus, we should really go, don't you want us out of your hair for a while?"

"We have to go," Steve deadpanned, not allowing Tony to get a word in. "We have a lead, and I am going to follow it. I'm not letting it get away this time. Keep the SHIELD agents here, Sam and I can handle this mission alone," Steve told him.

Tony's arms dropped to his side and he shook his head. "So be it, call if you need anything. Or find anything, for that matter," He said, watching the two board the quinjet and ensuring their gear was already on board. Steve quickly took off and they were headed to where the lead for their mission was from, leaving Tony hoping they made the right decision about this mission. "Well," He sighed to himself as the agents cleaned the hanger, "Guess I'll get back to my day job."

\---

Wanda knew a lot about her powers. She didn't necessarily have  _more_  powers than Pietro, just insanely different. While Pietro has speed, and she has the power of "telekinesis plus," it seems like Pietro got the short end of the stick. However, while Wanda may have different things she can do involving actual telekinesis and causing nightmares, Pietro has different functions for his running.

But today you were focusing on helping Wanda control her powers. Things can get out of hand if she is overwhelmed or not totally sure what she is doing, and you are making it a point that she learns to better control her powers. You know how that is, though, it can be very difficult to control something so powerful and big. But that's why you would be the best to help, you understand the hardships of controlling impossible power. You learned to control your reactive evolution powers after years, but with all that you know now, you could help Wanda much quicker.

"I know you know how to move things, that's the easiest part of your powers," You started, "But we need to make sure your powers don't go overboard. Without extreme concentration and focus, all that energy contained from your telekinesis could combust and explode, causing more harm than help," You explained to her. Wanda nodded as you talked, explaining ways to work on focusing and understand all of her power.

You instructed her to do a lot of tests to help both you and her understand what needed work. She listened to everything you had to say and tried her hardest but lost all concentration when FRIDAY chimed in on every speaker in the facility to alert everyone to come to the lab. And the code for "a big problem" followed, so you and Wanda rushed as fast as you two could.

"What's going on?" Natasha called. "I was in the middle of-"

"We've been hacked," Tony sighed and looked to Bruce, who was helping him. "All of it. Everyone. Someone has all of our information, all of our connections, our research, and codes. It's like what Ultron did, hacking and locking us out, but we aren't locked out- at least not yet."

Bruce walked over to Tony's computer. "They have the power to delete everything, see everything, and lock us out, though," Bruce chimed in. "And we don't even know who the source is."

"Not of this Earth, I assume," Thor boomed. "It seems I will not be returning to Asgard until we get to the bottom of this, correct?"

Bruce shrugged. "You can do whatever you want, but if this is something bigger than just a small hacker, we may need you to stick around."

"How do we tell who it is-" Wanda was cut off by a loud screech coming from all the screens in the lab.

"Nice to formally meet you, Avengers, I am Silver Shadow," You looked where the deep voice was coming from. The screen only showed a dark, hooded figure with a hint of silver on the outfit. "I'm unlike anything you've ever seen. I'm not the puny god with a self-destructive army, I'm not a robot with a self-destruct button, and I'm not an actor paid to pretend to be a self-destructor," He spoke. "I'm a hacker, who now, thanks to the immortal, has access to a large part of the government and the biggest protectors of the world. We should save the rest for a later time," You could practically hear this smirk. "I'll see you all around," He finished quickly and all the computers shut off, unable to be turned back on.

The Avengers looked around to each other. "Bruce and I will try to...hack back in..." Tony sighed.

"I'll try to contact Steve and Sam," Natasha added.

"I have to call my connections and let them know what's going on," You groaned at the situation and turned to the other's who hadn't signed up for anything. "Make sure you're geared and ready."


	4. August 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the ominous message was left the day before, it was time to meet the real deal. However, things are not as they seem. Also: Steve and Sam return!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i a m s o e x c i t e d

You were on alert all night. Technically, since you are immortal, you won't die from lack of sleep. Meaning, you were on guard of the lab most of the night while others got their rest or worked to get everything working again. It both benefitted and was useless- nothing struck, no fights and no more threatenings, but there was no luck getting back into the system. It was all getting too close for comfort, and you had a bad feeling that something would be upon the team before everyone was ready. So, naturally, you got them ready as soon as you felt something was off.

"What a way to end off a week," You sighed as you walked with Pietro and Wanda. "A new villain...Threatening the world...Again."

Pietro laughed and Wanda smiled. "Yeah, it's kind of getting out of hand. You'd think after so many failed attempts of taking over the world the villains would get the point that they aren't going to win," Pietro shrugged. "I mean, we even used to be like that...but switched sides. And boy, I am glad we did, because we would have lost."

Wanda felt bad. She is very powerful and every time she gets to fully use her powers, it was either for bad, or things turned out bad because of other issues. "Yeah, I know. The track record just happens to be a powerful trickster god, a supercomputer gone robot, and a bunch of smaller-" You were cut off by an explosion, all three of you jumping. "What was that?"

Running to the window, the Avengers Facility was surrounded by an army. "We need to get out there!" You shouted, running to the closest door, meeting the rest of the team outside. The army floated the ground, throwing explosives on the grass and near the base. The outfits they wore were laced with silver but also had black. "Watch out!" You shouted at Natasha and Clint who hadn't seen a bomb fall behind them. You rushed over and quickly transformed to protect the two of them. "What the hell is going on?" You asked.

Natasha pointed up. "The Silver Shadow has made his appearance," She groaned. You looked up to see a floating figure in the sky wearing a black hooded outfit, complemented by silver. All you could see of his face was a smirk in the middle of it, and his finger touching his temple. 

"What are we waiting for? Let's kick some ass!" You shouted, grabbing a gun and aiming for the enemy (alien? You have no idea) closest to you. You were ready to see the enemy fall to the ground in defeat, but the bullet went straight through the enemy and it kept getting closer to you. In fact, the bullet and any punches thrown had not affected any of them and they were still fighting, getting closer, shooting and throwing explosives.

Pietro ran over to you. "What's going on? I can't land a hit and I know I've punched a lot!" Pietro expressed, breathing heavy.

You looked around in confusion, your eyes squinted, trying to figure it out. You looked at the Silver Shadow to see him still holding his temple and moving his other hand around. Then you looked back to his army; back to him, then to the army. "He's...controlling them?" You whispered. "But they're practically ghosts...but they can still hold things. We just can't touch them?" You spoke slowly, trying to work it out in your brain. "But how does he control them? And how do we  _stop_ them?"

"Wanda, can you put up a large forcefield?" Tony called as he flew over. "Maybe it will fend them off for a while!" He yelled.

"I can try," Wanda replied.

You walked closer to her. "Focus entirely on what you have to do. Let nothing distract you, focus on protecting," You told her, loud enough for her to hear but not loud enough to throw her off guard. Within a few seconds, you watched a large forcefield grow around the group and even the Avengers base. She had done it! "Yes!" You smiled, making Wanda smile. Then, everyone turned to Tony for instruction.

"What are these things?" Tony asked, standing on the ground now.

"Projections from his mind...kind of?" Your voice got higher towards the end of your sentence. "But they can still- you know, I have no idea. But he's controlling them," You decided on your ideas. 

Rhodey groaned from next to Tony. "So you're telling me we have no way to fight against these alien things? We can't hit them, we can't shoot them, how do we stop them?" Rhodey exploded.

Everyone went quiet- the only thing they could hear was the explosions from the aliens/robots/ghosts destroying the ground. Then, the silence was cut off from a gasp from Wanda. "He's a hacker, right? They've got to be programmed into something he has," She started. "He keeps touching his temples, maybe it's glasses or a headband, but the aliens must be programmed in that. We just have to hack that!" Wanda said. She had no idea where this idea came from, but it sounded like a damn good plan.

"FRIDAY, let's hack into it," Tony said. He pulled out his phone and turned it sideways to project a larger screen and started typing as fast as he could, as the rest of the team waited for things to change. 

"Wanda, I need you to really concentrate for me, okay?" You whispered to her and she nodded slowly. "I need to get out of the forcefield."

She didn't say anything, she trusts you, and closed her eyes in extreme concentration. Slowly but surely, a small opening appeared in the forcefield, just big enough for you to get out. With the power you have to mimic another's powers, like what you did with Pietro's speed, you stared at the villain and copied his flight. Floating up to him, you seemed to come unnoticed. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm (Y/N)!" You startled him. Honestly, you didn't really know why you were doing this. A distraction? Trying to figure things out? Either way, it would be interesting.

Silver Shadow did not jump, he simply turned his head to where you were floating. "Ah, the immortal. It's a pleasure," He nodded.

"Got it!" You heard Tony from the ground, seeing all the holographic robots disappear and the weapons retreat to the source. 

You smirked. "I think we just grounded you-"

"Yes, it seems you have," He sighed. "If I were actually here."

"Wh-" You swiped your hand to punch him, but it only went straight through with nothing changing. A second later, his body glitched away and you saw an orb floating a little higher up with a projector in it- what must have been projecting his body. 

"This is only the beginning, Miss Immortal," His deep voice called as the orb flew away and disappeared.

You dropped to the ground and Wanda's forcefield went away. "What is this guy's deal?" You rolled your eyes. "We need to do more research."

Thor flew in and landed hard on the ground, leaving an indent. "I could not track anything down, wait, what happened here?"

"It's a long story, Thor," Bruce sighed as he walked out of the base. "Come with me."

Thor walked with Bruce and everyone else headed inside. "I don't understand," You said as you walked with the twins. "Everything was a hologram? But how were they causing destruction...even the Silver Shadow was a hologram?" You rambled on, hearing Tony's voice in the background, but you didn't listen to it. You just kept going.

"You're back already? That was quick," Tony shook his head.

Sam shrugged. "Yeah, well, as soon as we got there we wasted no time. Tracked down the lead, got him to comply, and then got Natasha's call and he was more than happy to come back with us," Sam explained to Tony.

Steve entered the room talking to Natasha about the things they saw. "(Y/N)?" The man's voice next to them called. You turned around quickly and your jaw dropped.

"Bucky?"

All of the sudden, you could feel your bones begin to stiffen up and everything become weaker. Your hair lost its volume and your eyes were tired and heavy. Looking down at your hands, they were much paler and you could see the veins and the new found wrinkles.

Everything went black.

 


	5. August 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After you passed out, everyone was worried about you. A lot of talk, confusion, and explanations to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hERE WE GOOOOO

"Vitals are still good, her breathing is stable- everything seems to be fine," Bruce stressed. "The only thing I don't understand is how she turned a hundred years old," He sighed. "I mean, I can put together how her health is so good. Since she's immortal, this sudden aging isn't harming her. Or, at least, not yet. But things could start going downhill if-"

"She's waking up," Tony called from next to you. "(Y/N)? Can you hear me?"

Your eyes slowly blinked. "What's going on?" Your voice was hoarse and light. "Why do I feel so...weak?"

"We're unsure," Bruce said as he looked at the tablet. "One second, you're the age you chose to be with your immortal powers, but the next second you're a hundred years old and passed out on the floor."

Tony looked at you with sympathy in his eyes. He knew what was going on, but didn't know how to explain it, so he waited for you to talk. "It was Bucky, wasn't it?"

"That...that wasn't a dream? Bucky- he's actually alive?" You gasped. When Tony nodded, tears streamed down your cheeks uncontrollably. "I...I thought he died. Steve told me he watched him fall off the cliff."

Tony shook his head while Bruce looked at you with the most confused eyes you had seen in a while. "I didn't know what to tell him, you might need to explain."

You sat up, feeling fine if not a little weaker. "Bruce, you know I'm immortal with my extra powers. But when I fall in love, I lose all of those powers- including immortality, and turn the age of the person I love. I gain my power back when I fall out of love, or my significant other dies. In the 40s I was in love with Bucky, but then he  _died_ , and I gained my power back. I guess..." You paused. "I'm still in love with him."

Bruce nodded, trying to comprehend everything you were saying. Besides Steve, Tony knew the most about you. Bruce would just have to ask Tony to fill in the blanks later. "So, it seems you're still very healthy, but I should run some more tests. Those can wait until later, though, so you should get some rest," Bruce encouraged. "Tony, let's leave (Y/N) be for a while."

Tony sighed and stood up from the floor next to the bed. The two walked out of the room and Tony just knew that he was about to be bombarded by questions from Bruce. However, Tony stopped walking when he saw a familiar long-haired male standing against the wall, looking in the window. "Are you flattered or upset?" Tony asked.

"What?" Bucky replied, quietly.

"This means she still loves you, you know that, right?" Tony told Bucky.

Bucky shook his head. "What? No?"

"Did you not know about her immortality?"

"She's immortal?"

"Not anymore!" Tony laughed. "It looks like either I or Steve have a lot of explaining to do. I don't think (Y/N) wants to explain her powers again. Steve knows more, so you should go ask him. I should really work with Bruce..." Tony stalled away with Bruce, Bucky not moving an inch.

Steve walked up beside him. "How's she doing?" Bucky jumped at the question, then calmed down after seeing his friend. He was still on edge- being on the run for a while was hard and he was not fully back to being how he was before, and he never would be. But he was getting there, he was regaining his memories.

"Better...I think?" Bucky said quietly. "What's this about her being immortal?"

Steve nodded like he understood that this was coming. "I think we should go take a seat, it's a long story," Steve told Bucky. "She's around 1800 years old."

Bucky wasn't sure how to reply, but followed Steve without question. He was intrigued and wanted to find a way to get you back. He wouldn't let you die because of him returning. "I'm going to be honest, if I knew she still loved you, I wouldn't have brought you back here. But I thought she was over you, it's been over sixty-five years," Steve whispered. "But everything happens for a reason."

\---

Tony monitored your health throughout the rest of the day. Somehow, someway, everything looked just as it did before you turned old. But before long, he was sure it would climb down. You were asleep and Tony was worried about things that could come of this. They still hadn't figured anything out about this villain and there were no advancements in how to defeat him. Tony was pretty sure that the first battle was just a distraction, to get a feel for how they fight. There's no way a villain with the power and technology he has would make a fight that simple.

The computers were still down, there was no luck in trying to get them back on. Tony was lucky his tablets and phones were working, but he was sure something would have been able to take care of you.

Vision flew into the room. "She's having a nightmare."

"What? Is she all right?" Tony asked, looking down at your sleeping body, not even moving an inch. "Wait, how do you know she's having a nightmare? She looks fine?"

Vision tried not to look annoyed, but failed. "I have a mind stone. I can sense it."

Tony nodded, shaking his head after. "Sorry, Vision, it's been a long few days."

The two were startled when the door was thrown open by Thor and Bruce trailing behind. "Thor, don't- you went in there. I tried, Tony, he doesn't listen," Bruce mumbled, rubbing his tired eyes.

"It's okay," Tony shrugged. "What do you need?"

"I'm heading back to Asgard," Thor announced.

Tony's eyes widened in disbelief. "What? You can't leave. We're already down a member, what if we get attacked again and we need you?"

"You did fine without me before. Besides, it will only be a few days. I'm only going to see if anyone in Asgard has heard of this Silver Shadow and find any information on him. I'll be back soon, do not fear," Thor grabbed one of Tony's shoulders, shaking him with a big smile. "I'll see you soon!" Thor boomed and walked heavily out of the room.

Tony looked back down at you, a sad look taking over his face. "We'll get you back up and running in no time, (Y/N)."


	6. August 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You feel like a fly on the wall as you are stuck in bed, unable to help the Avengers defend off the Silver Shadow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda a filler chapter, but trust me, its getting good.

When you jumped awake by the sounds of alarms you thought your heart was going to jump out of your chest. Ever since you rapidly aged, you were much jumpier, and it wasn’t intentional. It just happened, and you hated it. You looked out the glass room to see the Avengers run around in their pajamas. “What’s going on?” Were the only words you could make out.

“He’s back!” Clint yelled.

“Avengers, suit up!” Steve shouted and everyone took off in different directions to prepare for the fight. They had gotten really good at taking very little time, and you were quite surprised that they didn’t go to sleep in their suits. But it made sense, as everyone had been extremely tired from all the busy days they’ve had recently. With fighting and you turning the big one-zero-zero, everyone was stressed and running on little sleep.

You watched as the group filed outside one by one, each appearing in their proper getup. “What even are these things? I need a name for them!” Rhodey complained as he dodged a few shooting at him.

“Holograms!” Tony yelled back as he typed. “He changed the coding, but it shouldn’t be too hard to get through,” Tony reported through the comms.

You wished you could be out there fighting next to them. But you knew if you even left the bed, everyone would yell at you. Plus, you were feeling weaker and didn’t want to distract anyone away from the fight. It would be best to just stay out of the way. By doing so, you could ensure that the Silver Shadow did not know you were down and, well, mortal.

Wanda had figured out that she could contain the bombs the holograms were throwing by capturing them in little forcefield bubbles. They would explode in there and be absorbed by her power, in turn, making her stronger. She just had to catch them before they touched something else and exploded. Which she did, for the most part. But like anything, a few were missed.

“Holograms are down!” Tony shouted. “Silver Shadow, we got you! That is, if you’re even here,” Tony gestured around.

The Silver Shadow’s laugh boomed as if it came through a loud speaker at a concert, making most grab at their ears in pain. “You think you’re so smart, Mr. Stark,” The Silver Shadow called, lifting his left hand in the air. “You think you know everything about me by taking down my holograms. Did you ever wonder why it was so easy? Surely, a villain with this much power would be able to make his army un-hackable. Maybe I  _needed_  you to stop them- but why?” He taunted, no one on the ground moving, mesmerized by everything he was saying.

The Silver Shadow flipped his hood back to show blue skin and dark hair. But what was most noticeable was his right eye- it wasn’t there. Instead of pulling a Nick Fury and getting an eyepatch, he had a glass eye encased in silver. “I should thank you, before I destroy you, though. Your old, worn down Iron Man gear was very helpful when I found it scattered over the world. It helped me make my eye- a lot like your helmet,” He tapped at his eye. Before anyone could say anything, the Silver Shadow laughed again and moved his hand a little, pointing right at Tony.

Everyone watched as electricity came out of his hand straight to Tony. “No!” Wanda grunted, throwing a protective bubble- but missed. She only missed because Pietro was a step ahead of her, and moved Tony out of the way. Who knows what would have happened if Tony’s Iron Man suit was hit by that much electricity? It could have been fatal.

“Thanks for showing us what you can do,” Tony called. “Now, you’re stealing my tech?” He raised his eyebrow, but no one could see that past the suit. Flying up with Vision and Rhodey by his side, they tried to shoot their weapons at him.

All the Silver Shadow did was laugh. He seemed to absorb the lasers and things shot at him. “You can’t beat me,” He stated. “Thanks for the recharge!” He shouted and threw his hand forward to have more electricity fly out of it- only to hit Vision. The team on the ground watched Vision fall, but was caught by Wanda’s bubble. Tony and Rhodey watched the Silver Shadow slowly descend to the ground, looking around at the team who had no idea how to fight him.

Steve was standing in front of where he landed, holding his shield up, ready to fight. “Captain, glad you could join us. I noticed you were missing the other day-” The Silver Shadow stopped and looked to who was standing behind him. “Do my eyes deceive me, or is that The Winter Soldier with you lot?” He asked. Rubbing his hands together, everyone could see the electricity coming off his hands. They looked from one another, trying to figure out how to take him down.

This was something that no one had ever seen. A villain sitting, preparing to fight, while the Avengers stood around and waited. They had no idea how to stop this villain, as everything they had tried was repelled and didn’t affect him. Or, if it did, it only made him stronger in the end. They didn’t know if he could do anything else that they weren’t expecting, or how skilled he was in actual combat.

The Silver Shadow threw his hands in the air, making electricity come out and disperse everywhere. You watched in horror from the recovery room, seeing all of your members fall to the ground at once. “Now maybe they’ll know what they’re dealing with,” He whispered to himself. Heading towards Tony, he knew FRIDAY recorded everything that happened while in the suit. He grabbed Tony’s helmet and jerked it around a little. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with,” He started. “I  _will_ get what I want. See you through the screens,” The Silver Shadow finished, and flew off.

Once you were sure he was gone, you rushed outside to wake your friends up. No one was moving, but you checked that they were still breathing (they were). You just wish you could help more because frankly, you feel fine if not useless.


	7. August 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the Silver Shadow took down the team single handedly, they need a day to figure out what he did to them, and to recover. Thor returns!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so this one is shorter n shit but it's an important one in the end. You find out more about the villain and somg light forshadowing if you guess right ;). Tomorrow is one of my favorite chapters I've written for this though.

With all the Avengers still recovering from whatever the Silver Shadow did to them, no one could stop you from walking around and attending to them. Sure, they could try to  _tell_ you to go back to bed, but you didn't listen.

Most of the Avengers, excluding Vision, Bruce, and Rhodey, were passed out on couches in the common room, hurting all over. You and Pietro (who was feeling fine because of speedy healing) were handing water and snacks to the rest. You were giving Tony water when you almost collapsed from hearing Thor land outside of the base. The jumpiness has not gone away, and it's only made you angrier to have this reaction to anything even remotely loud.

"You're back quick," Tony called from the couch.

Thor nodded and looked at everyone moping around. "You all look like you were eaten, then thrown up by a-"

"We know," Natasha, Steve, and Clint groaned at the same time.

Thor shrugged, seeing that no one was in the mood for jokes. "Well, I came back early because I found all the information I needed on Silver Shadow," Thor explained, everyone staring at him. "He has been seen around Asgard before, trying to get resources. We couldn't give it to him, though, because he would not tell us the reason for needing it. He's also friends with that  _Collector_  character, where he got most of his resources and technology," Thor continued on. "And Loki knows him. Silver Shadow thinks Loki is puny, weak, and Midgardian loving because he could not win The Battle of New York. Loki hates him and wants to see him be taken down," Thor finished, taking a seat on an empty chair.

Tony rolled over and tried to stand up, only falling back down and grabbing at his head. "This is way worse than the nightmares with Ultron," Tony mumbled.

"That's what it feels like?" Wanda rubbed her eyes lightly, still laying down.

You hated to see your team like this. You couldn't stop thinking that if you were out there with them, this would not have happened.

What's even more painful is that you can't get yourself to talk- or even look- to Bucky. After feeling extremely uncomfortable when you made eye contact with him, you excused yourself and walked out of the common room, heading back to your bedroom. It was strange, being in your bedroom because you have been stuck and monitored in the recovery room for the past few days. However, it was nice to see your bed and all your belongings again.

You grabbed your laptop from your desk and sat down on the edge of your bed. If there was one thing that you noticed, it was that you moved a lot slower. But so far, nothing else has caught up with the old age yet. Well, except for the fact that the Avengers were treating you like the most fragile thing in the world.

Typing quickly, you began to look into your immortality- something you had not had to do before. You always had someone who knew about immortality, but this time was different. This time, you were trying to figure out how to get it back- or how to cheat your curse, per se. You've never seen the immortality as a curse, though, not until it was taken away. And it wasn't even the immortality that was a curse, it's the fact that whenever you love, the love is the curse.

All you got when you looked up "immortality" was legends of it. How it shouldn't be possible and there is little chance of being immortal. Scrolling down, there were articles on how scientists believe that humanity can become immortal if they perfect things. When you type " _how immortality works_ " into the search bar, all you got was some random explanation about cells, and something that didn't make sense to you. Then, trying to figure out how to " _cure a curse_ " there was nothing but some fanfiction, bloggers, and ancient myths. Slamming the laptop shut, you started to feel more and more tired as the day dragged on. Going from feeling full of life to slowly losing it took a lot out of you...another nap couldn't hurt.

By now the Avengers were feeling a little better. Tony was able to stand and walk around, and while everyone else felt like shit, they were talking and acting like they weren't hurting. "So, Loki gave me some information about this Silver Shadow," Thor added once everyone was quiet, and everyone turned to look at him. "Well, I already told you what else I found out. But Loki said he knows how the Silver Shadow works- he could help us. What do you think about bringing him in to help us?"

Tentatively, curious looks were exchanged all over the rooms. Tony was the one to speak up.  "Thor, what if he goes bad again-"

"That won't happen. Loki hates the Silver Shadow more than anything else. He wants to see him fail," Thor confirmed, nodding once to clarify.

"Well, I guess that would be okay...right, guys?" Tony asked.

Around the room, everyone slowly agreed to let Loki temporarily join the team, even though it was clear that it would be awkward and there would be a loss of trust. "Great!" Thor smiled. "Because he's on his way here."


	8. August 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even though Bucky has been back for a while now, the two of you have yet to talk at all. Today, that changes, as you finally speak through things that need to be discussed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of my favorite chapters. It’s alllll fluff, and it sets up for upcoming chapters. Enjoy the bucky fluff while it lasts :)

You walked into the kitchen to get something small to eat. You may have aged, but that doesn’t mean your love for food has changed. Normally, you’d expect to go into the kitchen, grab the food, and leave with no interruptions; but today was different.

Bucky stopped you before you walked out. “We really need to talk,” Bucky said. His voice was shaking, only proving that he was visibly nervous. “I mean…do you have a minute to talk, maybe?” Bucky’s voice got quieter and he scratched his neck. It had been extremely awkward ever since he arrived because as soon as you saw him, things went downhill. Then, you wouldn’t even look at him, but Bucky couldn’t blame you. He was nearly the same way, but he was too worried about you that he couldn’t get you out of his head.

Admittedly, he was a little happy you still love him, because he still loves you. But he’s upset, which is also understandable.

He never, ever forgot you. Through all the HYDRA brainwashing, all the fighting, all the heartbreak, he never forgot your face. Sure, he may not have been able to put a name to the face, but he was always seeing your face everywhere; you were obviously important to him, even if he couldn’t remember all the details. But once he got out of HYDRA and began to remember all his old memories that HYDRA stripped away, he was heartbroken to know he left you behind.

That was, until, he arrived at the Avengers base.

“Yeah, sure, what do you want to talk about?” You took a seat at the table, waiting for Bucky to join you. He sat opposite of you, still anxious and worried about how this conversation would go.

“Well,” Bucky started, “We just haven’t talked. It’s been over sixty years since we last saw each other…and I thought we should talk to each other?”

You shrugged slightly. “Have you talked to Steve as well? I’m sure he was happy to know you’re still here.” And frankly, you were insanely happy Bucky was still alive. You were heartbroken for years hearing your boyfriend died, then only to find out a few days later that your best friend died as well, it was hard to handle. But even if it was tough for you to show it, you were happy that Bucky’s okay. Everything is okay.

“Yeah, I guess,” Bucky shrugged. “(Y/N), honestly, Steve’s known I’ve been alive for a few years. But it was when I was still under…HYDRA’s control…and,” Bucky stopped himself. “I’m just so happy you’re here, I was so sad when I remembered your name,” Bucky didn’t make eye contact, which was the signal that he was nearing crying.

“Steve’s known you’ve been alive?” You burst out. “Nevermind, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you  _are_  here and alive.” And it really didn’t matter. Obviously, Steve was only looking out for the best outcomes and if that meant keeping Bucky a secret, he was probably doing it because he knew how Bucky was with HYDRA. But you put aside Steve not telling you to spend time with the man you still love, he was right; it’s been far too long. “I’m glad you’re alive.”

“Me too!” Bucky agreed. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again…but here you are!” Bucky jumped a bit. When he’s nervous, he goes from being really quiet and reserved to loud and excitable. “Hey, uh, why didn’t you tell me you were immortal?”

You knew this was coming. You knew Steve told Bucky how you were still alive and so young, so the question was bound to be asked. Honestly, it was hard to come up with the answer you were looking for, but thinking back to all your past partners before Bucky, it all worked the same way. “When I was in love the few times before I met you, I always ended up having to force myself out of love so I could help the world when it was in danger. Especially before Steve was made, or the Avengers came together- I couldn’t just sit back and watch everything fall. But the only way to get my powers back was for my partner to die, or for us to fall out of love. I always ended up having to force myself out of it- so I could help the world. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid I was going to have to force myself out; And once Steve told me about Red Skull, the day was getting closer. Then you  _died_ , and that was the worst day of my life. I didn’t tell you because it  _always_  happens, I knew I was going to have to force us out of love,” You admitted. It hurt a lot more to say it than whatever you had thought before.

“But when you came back…” You stopped yourself, and Bucky didn’t force you to talk anymore. He understood what you were saying, even if it was a jumbled mess thrown together. Bucky put his hand on your shoulder, letting you know it’s okay to stop talking about it. He got what he wanted, and he’s very happy that both of you are alive and okay.

“Bucky,” You started, and for the first time during this conversation, you made eye contact. “I don’t know what to do. I still love you,” You sighed, “And I can’t force myself out, I just know it won’t work. I know, because I tried it when I first woke up and was alone,” You admitted. “I’m not even making sense anymore, am I?” You had tears welling up in your eyes, not sure why, but also positive that you knew why. Your emotions were happy, yet also sad, making you insanely contradicted.

Bucky opened his arms, allowing you to grab him for a hug. He didn’t force you to hug, he just offered it and you accepted happily. You cried into his chest as you wrapped your arms around each other, something you both needed. Bucky recognized your hugs, and even though you were a different age now, they felt the same way.

And Bucky’s hugs were just like you remembered: The absolute best, warm, and loving. Something you hadn’t realized you missed oh-so-dearly.


	9. August 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Silver Shadow returns and he is shadier than ever. You are the guy in the chair now. Taking place much later at night, things get a little more intense as the time nears midnight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHH OH OH SHIT you heard me. it’s getting reallllll intense. This takes place in like all of an hour, so, it ends kinda cool! I was super proud of this chapter. #The Silver Shadow Likes To Play Gamessss

By now, the Avengers were used to the Silver Shadow attacking during the day. He seemed to have everything under his control during the day- so being woken up in the middle of the night, nearing midnight, was unexpected. Everyone was tired and not prepared for this fight. You watched as they all rushed into their suits then ran outside. You even noticed that Loki made it to Earth just in time to join the fight.

Being one person down, they were happy to have Loki help. However, you did not want to feel useless. So, instead of hiding away in your room and watching from a window, you got to Tony’s lab to help. Luckily, earlier in the day Tony and Bruce were able to get back into the computer systems. They saved as much as they could on alternate hard drives before they got locked out again, and upped the difficulty for the code (which was almost not possible). You put one of the comms in your ear and clicked on the cameras for outside the base. The cameras, luckily, have night filters, so you could see anything and everything easily.

You watched as everyone was having a hard time seeing what was going on. It was easy for Tony and Rhodey to see, obviously, but it was pretty dark for the others. Especially when they tried to turn on the lights around the base, the Silver Shadow shot the electricity out of his hands and overloaded the outside lights, burning them all out. Making the Avengers stuck in the dark.

“Okay, Tony, the holograms are back again. This time, don’t hack them,” You directed as you monitored the fight. “Wanda, bubble everyone while we figure this out.”

“You don’t want me to hack the holograms? They’ll just destroy everything!” Tony yelled as Wanda bubbled her team.

You sighed, unsure how to explain it. “Last time you went face to face with him, he told you there’s a reason why his holograms are easy to hack. Maybe it was giving him more power, or to see how you work- we can’t risk it again. Last time, need I remind you, all of you got knocked out from him!” You said.

Tony nodded, but everyone still looked confused as ever. “Why, isn’t it the Midgardian loving God?” The Silver Shadow boomed, looking straight at Loki. “Good to see you! Finally where you belong, with the other Earth-lovers,” The villain shouted, taunting Loki.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see you groveling for your life,” Loki grumbled, staring so intently you were sure he would burn a hole in his enemy’s forehead.

“(Y/N),” Steve called, “Wanda can’t hold a bubble this big the entire time. But we can’t hack the holograms? What do you suggest we do, then?” Steve asked.

You rolled your eyes lightly and your shaky hands started typing at some code. “I-I don’t know…just yet…” You sighed, then gave up. “Disable the holograms.” Tony got to work as soon as you said that.

“So, where is the immortal? I haven’t seen her around lately!” The Silver Shadow egged on. “Oh, would you look at that, my holograms are gone…yet again. It sure is a shame that you’re all here, worrying about me and my easily hackable bots defending your base, while the only person defending the rest of New York City is the Spider-Man. You all must be off your game with a night encounter, as  _all_ of you are here and no one is monitoring what could be going on in a different part-”

“(Y/N)?” Tony mumbled.

“On it,” You told him and typed in the computer, looking for any news reports. You also called Peter Parker, as he probably knows what’s going on. The computers were lagging out again, and luckily Peter picked up.

Between grunting and gunfire, you assumed bad things were happening. “(Y/N)! Glad you called! I could really use some help, there are a bunch of robot things, but I can’t hit them?” Peter screamed, hurting your ear. “I have figured out that they are affected by the stuff in my webs. It makes them deteriorate!” Peter told you. “That’s the only way I can stop them, if I encase them in a web.”

“You found a way to kill them?” You almost fell out of your chair. “Hold on for just a little longer, I’m going to track your location and have the team right on their way- okay?”

Peter groaned a bit, he was probably hit by one of the weapons. “Sounds great!”

You turned back to the Avengers and watched as they stood around, not sure what to do. “Guys, Peter found a way to kill the holograms. He’s also being attacked by an army of unhackable holograms, so I’m sending his location for you guys to follow. I really recommend getting some of his web fluid though, as it seems to be our only hope of killing those things-”

“(Y/N),” Sam cut you off. “You’re rambling. Calm down, we got this.”

“I’m going to go grab some of the stuff Parker is using for his webs, then I’ll be on my way. The rest of you can head there,” Tony directed. Pietro picked up Wanda and ran, Rhodey flew off, Sam grabbed Steve and flew, Vision held Natasha. Thor grabbed Loki and Bucky, somehow with the ability to hold both of them. Everyone was out of the Avengers base in a matter of seconds. Well, except for Clint, he was waiting for Tony.

“Hey, please be careful,” You called to Clint when he ran past where you were inside the base, trying to get to Tony.

Clint nodded. “Same to you. Don’t go out and try to fight someone, you know it’ll only end badly,” He reminded you, poking your forehead lightly.

You playfully rolled your eyes. “Sure thing,  _dad_.”

“I’m serious, (Y/N). Your health, somehow, is just like how it used to be. We can’t risk it getting any worse- we don’t know what we would do without you!” Clint started to get more worried, worried that you weren’t taking this seriously. “Promise me you will stay in here.”

“Clint-”

“Promise me.”

_11:56 PM_

You sighed and looked at your feet for a second, then looking back up at Clint. “I promise.”

Tony appeared outside the room the two of you were in. “Coming, Legolas?”

_11:57 PM_

Clint looked back and nodded. “Yeah,” He said, and turned to you. “I’m serious, (Y/N),” Clint reminded before running out of the room.

You listened as Tony took off with Clint, eyes closed, and sat back in your chair before opening your eyes again. You were facing a window, and when you opened your eyes, you were met by a blue face and a glass eye.

_11:58 PM_

“Oh, so nice to see you again, (Y/N). What happened to you? You were so young,” The Silver Shadow teased.

When you tried to reach for the computer, the villain shot enough electricity to make it through the open window and have it break the connection. “Nice try, but I think we should talk,” He smirked.

_11:59 PM_

It’s going to be a long day.


	10. August 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Silver Shadow attempts to get information out of you. When you don’t give him what he wants, he gets it himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i mentioned Bandstand in this. i’m crying.

12:00 AM, August 10

“Well,” You started, trying your hardest not to seem intimidated. “What to talk about?” You were trying to come up with ideas on how to stall time, you just needed enough time for your team to come back. “There are so many things to talk about…like the current Broadway shows! They’re amazing. I haven’t really had time to see any recently, but one day I will-”

The Silver Shadow cleared his throat, trying to signal you to stop talking. “I meant, let’s talk about you,” He nodded once to clarify.

You thought for a second. “Me?” You forced out a dry laugh. “Okay, I, personally, really miss Newsies. It was such a good show. It’s a shame it’s off now,  _but_  a bunch of former Newsies are still on Broadway, which is awesome!” You rambled on, testing his patience.

“I mean your power, (Y/N), why did you choose old-”

“Like, one of the Jack Kelly’s is in a musical called Bandstand. And one of the Delancy brothers, you know, the kinda villains, is in the musical that won best musical at the Tony’s. I’m sure you’ve heard of it, Dear Evan-”

The Silver Shadow grabbed your hand, catching your attention. “Stop with Broadway. That is not what we are focusing on.”

Your eyes widened like you understood. But little did the Silver Shadow know, is that you have a few more tricks up your sleeves. “So, do you want to talk about Snapchat then? I hate the new update where people can just, like, see your location. I mean, I’m sure it’s great for people like you, but I don’t need anyone knowing where I am all the time. So, no thank you, Snapchat!” You declared.

You could tell you were wearing down the Silver Shadow. He was becoming very annoyed and impatient and didn’t really know how to get you to stop rambling. He just wanted some answers about your powers; and if he couldn’t get it one way, he would get it the other way.

“You’re hopeless. If you can’t get what you want, might as well do it yourself,” The Silver Shadow declared and before you had a chance to get away from him, he put his hand on your forehead. You could feel a wave of electricity pass through your brain, but you fell to the ground.

The Silver Shadow flew in through the window fully now, standing over your body. He pulled up a news station to double check on the rest of your team, seeing that they were still occupied with his holograms. Of course, they would be, they claim to have a way to kill his bots. But little did the Avengers know, it is insanely easy to create more for his army. However, they didn’t need to know that.

The Silver Shadow hadn’t shown the Avengers everything he can do. They know he’s a hacker, that he has connections that got him an eye with Stark tech, that he has an army. He can also fly and shoot electricity, and anything shot at him he absorbs and becomes more powerful. And yes, he still has more up his sleeves. When the Avengers were knocked out, they were shown nightmares like what the Maximoff girl can give off; but a hundred times worse. They don’t remember what they are, just vague ideas of what they were, because he didn’t hit them with all he has.

He can also give a victim hallucinations. They can either be good or bad, but the most important part is that they drain energy and knocks his enemies out cold. Before, he hit the whole group, meaning the power was dispersed through everyone. This time he only hit you, meaning you were taking in one-hundred-percent his wrath of the hallucinations.

While you were laying on the floor, experiencing the in-head hallucinations, the Silver Shadow was getting all that he needed. He saw everything from the moment you came into the world up until just a few minutes ago. Over 1800 years of information, he had to sort through it like a giant filing cabinet.

Everything was piling into his mind and he had to search around for what he wanted. He didn’t care that you lived through the renaissance, through the American Revolution, through both world wars- that didn’t matter to him. At least not right now. All he wanted to know for now was the more recent stuff, making sure he could figure out how he could make his plan more successful.

He sifted through the memories of when you first met Tony, and started to work with him as Iron Man. He saw when you helped get Captain America back, helping him adjust for the two weeks before Nick Fury approached him again. The Battle of New York, the Battle of Sokovia, the countless fights with Tony, helping the government. He registered all of it and tucked it away safely in his mind. He looked through recent conversations that were still loud in your mind, seeing what your team has been saying for the past few days.

Without you even knowing it, you were helping the enemy.

The Silver Shadow got out of your mind when his army reported to him that the distraction worked and that the army was down. Swiftly, the Silver Shadow flew out of the window to get away. Leaving you on the floor of the lab, helpless and losing health.

“Something’s wrong, I can’t reach (Y/N),” Clint said. Tony tried his hardest to get you to respond to the comms, but you didn’t reply.

“FRIDAY, can you see (Y/N)?” Tony asked.

FRIDAY paused, looking around the base to report back to Tony. “She’s on the floor of the lab. Something isn’t right, sir,” FRIDAY told him.

Tony quickly took off flying back to the base, the others following how they could. He came up to you, you still being out cold. “FRIDAY-”

“The Silver Shadow did something to her. She’s losing energy and her health is going down dramatically,” FRIDAY explained before Tony could even finish his sentence. Upon hearing that, Tony rushed you to the recovery room to monitor your health, only to see that is, indeed, becoming worse.

Bruce arrived after being carried back by Thor and ran the same tests he did when you first aged, but this time the results were different. Proving that your health was becoming worse. “We need to wake her up. Something in her mind is causing her to become weaker,” Bruce explained. “I’m not quite sure how, but that’s how it’s working. If we wake her up and get this out of her, she can rest peacefully and regain her health.”

Steve walked into the recovery room. “She really needs a break. She’s putting so much on herself with wanting to help, but things have changed and she doesn’t understand that. When she wakes up, don’t pressure her to answer anything. In fact, don’t listen to her. Let her get some sleep, and we’ll talk tomorrow,” Steve commanded.

“Sounds like a plan, Steve,” Tony said as both Tony and Bruce began work to wake you up.


	11. August 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the Silver Shadow’s attack, the team needs to know what happened to you. Your secrets also get exposed to the public, and Tony can’t take much more of all the shit that’s going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was fun because it leads up to a lot. In a few days, my favorite chapters so far are coming up. This will help set up for them!!!

After being extremely pissed at Bruce and Tony for not listening when you tried to explain what happened, you weren’t sure that you  _wanted_ to tell them what happened. But, you knew you had to.

Telling them that the Silver Shadow got to you was the easy part. What happened after was much harder, as the memory of his illusions and nightmares were so vivid.

“What did he show you?” Tony asked, carefully. “We know he can show nightmares, but he only hit you. What happened?”

You thought for a moment, trying to figure out a way to explain it all. It felt so real, but you couldn’t come up with a way to explain it for the rest of the team to understand. “It was dark, and I was seeing memories from past battles. But they were different, because instead of fighting,” You cut yourself off, not really sure  _what_  was going on. “Well, you guys were kind of taunting me, and then came at me instead of at the armies invading. It was really weird, because then it cut to me in a room with a bunch of monsters. But they weren’t necessarily scary, they were bright neon, and they were drinking coffee and tea- hold on. Is that what it’s like to be high?”

Tony tried to cover his laugh while Bruce looked at you with a confused face. “You should try to calm yourself. The hallucinations really brought your health down. It’s still relatively good for someone your age, but it could fall even more if we aren’t careful. Why did he knock you out?”

You sighed, not sure how they would respond to hearing the reason. “Well, I don’t totally know. But I think he was looking at specific memories. Meaning, he knows all your fighting styles from previous battles. Especially yours, Tony, since I’ve worked with you much more than anyone else. So he has an upper hand, since he knows how we work,” You explained. “And he’s seen all our discussions about him recently. He knows what we think and all our ideas, which could be good or bad.”

The two took everything in and if it weren’t so quiet, you wouldn’t have noticed Steve walking in the room. “How are you feeling, (Y/N)?” Steve asked.

“Other than pissed? Fine…and old,” You shrugged. “Maybe a little weaker. But really, I’m good.”

The three watching you exchanged concerned looks. They know how your health chart looks, and if anything else were to go wrong, you could lose more energy than anyone would know. You were lucky to have the health of an immortal, but this sudden change is still scarring your body. No one knew how your health was still good, but if the Silver Shadow caught wind that he had a way to weaken you, who knows what he would do. This needs to stay under wraps to ensure that you are safe and will get your power back as quick as possible.

The thoughts from everyone in the room were stopped when the door was thrown open by Pietro. “You all need to see this,” He flipped around a tablet, showing the current news being broadcasted all over New York.

“ _(Y/N) (L/N), the immortal of the Avengers team, has reportedly been having problems. She is no longer the age she chose herself to be, but is becoming older by the minute. Our anonymous source, who provided us with these pictures of her, has said she is about a hundred years old in normal circumstances. They have also revealed that (Y/N), as an immortal, has been alive for over 1800 years- which none of us knew. When we asked how they received this information, they said they got it from (Y/N) directly, with a recording to prove it,”_ The news station went on to play a video of you speaking about your age and what happened to you. You didn’t seem to go into details, but you talked about your real age and what age you are in normal, human years.

But there was one thing: you never said these things to anyone with a camera. Or at least, that you remember. You stood up quicker than anyone was comfortable with, but you didn’t pay attention to their protests. You took the tablet from Pietro’s hands and started typing away, no one exactly sure what you were doing. You were having questions thrown at you at a million miles an hour, yet answered none. “There,” You sighed after you finished typing a few minutes later. “Okay, look at my face. What’s wrong with it?”

The small group gathered around and looked. “The hair?” Steve asked, lightly.

“Nope.”

“Your…outfit?” Tony added.

“Nada.”

“Uh, the way you speak?” Pietro said, more as a statement than a question.

“No. Bruce, any ideas?”

Bruce stared intently for a minute while everyone else stood in silence, waiting for him to respond. “Your eye.”

Without a word, you clicked the  _enter_  button and everyone watched as your face quickly morphed into the Silver Shadow. “He somehow changed his face with a complex code to look like me. He may think he knows a lot about me, but he doesn’t know that after being alive for so long, picking up coding is easy,” You smirked.

“It’s awesome that you know how to code, (Y/N),” Tony started, patting your shoulder. “But I think we should focus on the fact that  _he exposed what’s going on with you!_ ” Tony felt like he was going to explode. Not because of you, but because of everything going on in the world.

He wanted to pull all his hair out because of you being out of order. He wanted to shoot a window with his suit blaster because of this annoying, so-far-unbeatable villain. He couldn’t stand it anymore. With the press finding out about you and your dilemma, it would be all over the world in a matter of seconds. Scientists would start to “prove immortality is fake, and look at (Y/N) (L/N) as proof!” just to add to the debunking of theories.

He wanted you back to normal. Tony just wanted everything back to normal. But as of right now, that wasn’t going to happen, and there was no getting out of it.

With all these thoughts running through his head, Tony was afraid he would freak out and have a panic attack, so he rushed out of the room to calm down. He was going to find a cure to your curse, no matter how much research it will take. Somehow, soon enough, the team would have you back to normal and fighting by their side, before anything else bad can happen.


	12. August 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still fighting and alive, though weakened, you were still being monitored. However, when a certain person decides to get more information about your powers slyly, you talk about your past and how tough it has been. Not a lot is released, but you manage to get a few things off your mind, only to end in more visitors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell I live for Loki’s redemption arc? I need it. It’s here in this fic, enjoy. I LOVE WRITING ABOUT YNS PAST GUYS, ITS 1800 YEARS, IM HAVING SO MUCH FUN COMING UP WITH THE BACKSTORY!

__

Everyone was in their own corners of the base and have been ever since Tony ran out of the recovery room. Fighting against the Silver Shadow was strange because he has no pattern, leaving the Avengers clueless about when he could and will attack. 

Tony knew he shouldn't do the things that were on his mind, but he would do anything to have his best friend alive and healthy as possible. He couldn't bare to see you weakening, and with no hope of solving the curse with a few regular Earth books, he knew there was one answer.

He had to go to Loki. Now, normally, Tony would not go to Loki for anything. He's a trickster and it's very hard to trust him- but right now, Loki was the only one Tony believed could crack the curse. He couldn't go to Bruce anymore because Tony had already read over all of the books and notes he has. He couldn't go to Thor because this is not his prime zone, and would probably forget what he was supposed to find out. Steve would think it too dangerous and anyone else would try to get Steve's approval. Loki was the best for the job, and for more reasons than one.

Loki is a god, and has been alive almost as long as you have. Only a few hundred years younger, but he knows what he is doing. He is a master of tricks and works with curses more than anyone else Tony knows, and Tony knows that there is always a way to end a curse.  "This is gold!" Loki laughed when he heard what Tony wanted. "You want me to talk to (Y/N) for you, so you can try to figure out how to get her back to normal?" Loki asked. There had been a lot of past troubles with Loki- repeatedly faking his death, trying to take over Earth and Asgard, and just generally being against everyone. He's trying to be better though, and maybe by helping you get back to normal would get him some points.

"I get it if you don't care or want to help," Tony started, "This was a dumb idea, I should just do it myself-"

"Oh, I'll do it. I know more about curses than any one of you do," Loki nodded, a small smile peeking through. "It would also be more interesting to try and figure things out. A challenge, perhaps. And the faster she is able to be back and fighting, the faster we can defeat the damned Silver Shadow."

Tony nodded, internally beyond glad that Loki agreed. "Great, so, I have a few ideas on what we need-"

"What's her curse again?" Loki asked, and Tony explained the things going on with you. "All right, I know exactly some questions to ask," Loki said, and before Tony could even get another word out, Loki vanished from the room to talk to you. It would be hard to be discreet with Bruce monitoring you every single minute, but he knew what he was doing. 

You were only bedridden to make sure that your health did not decrease anymore. You were feeling perfectly fine, pissed, but fine, besides the fact that your health was worsening. Reporters from all types of media were trying to get in contact with you or any of the other Avengers to hear about you. Most calls went to Tony, which ended up on voicemail. However, some reporters tried to make their way to the Avengers facility: which they were denied by a big, locked gate and FRIDAY forcing them to turn around and leave. 

"Loki?" You croaked and looked away from your phone when he entered the room. "I was not expecting to see you here."

"Do you mean here as in the recovery room, or Midgard itself?" Loki asked as he took a seat on the end of your bed.

You thought for a minute. "Both, I guess. I was not expecting you to get a free pass to come back to Earth, but I guess since you want to help it worked out fine. Thor told me you're trying to get better, is that right?" You rambled a little, but it wasn't as bad as normal.

Loki nodded. "I suppose so."

"Oh, and I also did not even think you would come to the recovery room to see me. I mean, we don't really know each other, and the last time I saw you I kicked your ass and-"

Loki put his hand up to stop you from talking. "Things change, (Y/N). I heard bad things happened and I actually wanted to learn more about you, if you don't mind?" Loki asked, hopeful for two reasons. That you would agree, and that you would not question why.

"Sure, what do you want to know? I'm stuck in bed all day, so I have a lot of time to talk."

Loki tried to think of ways to word his questions. "I was told what happened to you and why- and I was curious as to how many times this has happened to you before?" Loki winced, hoping his comment wasn't crossing any lines.

"Oh, so, basically you're asking how many times I've been in love. Only a few times," You nodded, remembering your past lovers and all the pain that came from losing them.

"How did you...you know...get your power back?" Loki asked slowly, mentally jotting everything down.

You sighed, remembering one of the hardest relationships to get over. "Well, back in the renaissance times I fell in love with a guy. I didn't mean to, because times back then were actually really tough. But we kept running into each other and we got closer and we both fell in love. And I turned his age, we were around 34 when things went downhill. It was hard to survive and with my immortal health, I was doing much better than my partner was. Well, back then I didn't know it was my immortal health still in my body, but it still confused me. All in all, he died, and I was given my powers back. That one was really hard to get over, but it happened, and I'm still here," You retold the story as quickly as you could. "That was probably more than you wanted to know. I'm sorry, I haven't talked about him in a while."

"No, no," Loki insisted, "I asked to hear and it is actually very interesting to hear about it!" Loki documented this in his head to use later. "How...many other times were you in love?"

You laughed a bit. "Loki, it hasn't been a lot. I'm 1800 years old and if I fell in love a lot I probably would be dead. My guess is no more than ten, but I don't remember all of them the clearest. After so many years of being alive, there is a lot of information in my brain. And being someone like I am, I was considered a witch, a dark evil, a force to never be reckoned with...love wasn't very easy for me before times began to adapt," You reminded him.

"Of course, (Y/N)," He nodded. "What about your other powers?"

"What about them?" You raised an eyebrow. "I don't really know how I got them- they just came with the immortality," You shrugged.

Loki sighed. "Yes-"

"(Y/N)! How are you feeling?" Thor boomed as he walked in with three others following.

"Bruce groaned as he looked down at the tablet. Thor, could you not scare (Y/N) like that? She doesn't need that, it could harm her-"

"Nonsense, (Y/N) loves me!" Thor smiled. "Loki, you're here too? Time for a party- I brought Barton and the twins!"

Your smile grew as you saw your other friends appear behind the god of thunder. "Oh, Pietro, tell me all about your lightning throwing. Wanda, did you learn anything else?" You gushed to the both of them, getting admiring smiles from Clint as he watched the whole interaction.

Loki realized he would not be getting you alone again for a while and decided to give up. Quickly, he managed to escape from the room and write down all he found out. Sadly, it was not a lot. But it was something to get him started, and it would give him an idea on how to end this curse. However, for now, you would continue to stay old and bedridden, with no idea how your health would balance and if you would survive. 

A cure needed to be found quickly.


	13. August 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a follow up to the other day's conversation with Bucky, he returns to talk about more of your cute relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's like, alllll fluff. i love it. i just wrote a lot of angst so yay, fluff.

To be honest, Bruce had no idea what was going on with you. After losing health from the incident with the Silver Shadow, everything stayed stable. Sure, it was definitely worse than before, but it wasn't getting any worse ever since you woke up from the hallucinations.

Bruce declared you to stay in bed all day. He didn't want you worrying, or trying to help the Avengers. He figured the Silver Shadow has to know the hallucinations did something to you, and greatly helped him, or else he probably would not be leaving the Avengers alone as he is now.

You were expecting to some of the team to come by if they weren't busy. You were sure Tony and Steve were trying their hardest to find the Silver Shadow. The twins were probably working with Clint and Natasha on their powers, as they believe they need to get better to help in the fights. Peter was trying to figure out what was in his webs that made the holograms die. You weren't really sure what everyone else was doing, though it probably had to do with the Silver Shadow.

The one person you weren't expecting to visit you was Bucky. You were sure the last conversation you had with him was the most awkward thing you have ever experience and you were near positive that he would not want to talk to you again. But here he was, standing in front of you with a small smile on his face. "How are you feeling?" He knelt down to be the same height as you.

"I feel fine, honestly, but Bruce seems to think things are taking a turn for the worse," You told him. "What are you doing here?" You raised your eyebrow, still laying in the recovery bed.

Bucky shrugged. "I missed you," He said, "I'm not doing anything today, and I heard you're stuck in bed, and I wanted to come talk to you. I miss just being able to talk to you like we used to talk for hours on end- and it wasn't awkward," He told you, remembering the old dates you two would go on where he could listen to you talk about nothing for hours on end.

You smiled and grabbed Bucky's hand. "I still love you."

Bucky didn't know how to respond, and he wasn't quite sure why you randomly said it. "I know."

"I mean, it's kind of obvious...look at me!" You giggled. "But I have finally come to terms that it's all real. You're here, you're alive, you're my Bucky from all those years ago. And I'm still in love with you," You told him. Bucky hearing you say these things made his heart flutter and made him feel like he was eighteen again. Hearing you confirm your feelings and accept him back into your life made his face light up the way only you could make it.

Of course, there was still the awkwardness that is you and Bucky, but that's normal. He remembered the many times the two of you went dancing. He remembered the countless shows he visited with you. You remembered the many unveilings done by Howard Stark you attended with Bucky and Steve, even if you had already seen them because of your time spent with Howard, yet all of the nights ended lovely. Your love was sweet and romantic, one that you had never truly felt before.

And even though you knew Bucky had changed when he got away from HYDRA, your Bucky was still in there. He may be more closed off now, and more scared, but a part of him that you knew was there, and it shined through in his smile.

"Do you remember our first date?" You whispered, rubbing your fingers over his knuckles.

"Of course I do," Bucky reminisced. His brain-washing from HYDRA blocked things, but you were one of the most prominent things he remembers. And the first date, and every date, was remembered like it was yesterday. "We went to a small diner.  We ordered a little food and a milkshake, but it took you a good hour to actually eat your food because you kept talking. You began talking about things you love and you were unstoppable. Your rambling was the most adorable thing ever, and I listened to you talk for hours after we finished eating. We talked about the future and how we thought it would change. We talked about the advancements Howard Stark made and how great the world would be. We talked about dancing and music- then we talked about all the hobbies and our favorite things," Now it was Bucky's turn to ramble. He didn't notice how you looked at him with love in your eyes, but it was there. He could talk about you all day, and right now, he was going to. "I think we were at that diner for dinner, but they had to tell us they were closing up and needed us to leave. Then, we walked around town and talked for an additional hour until I walked you home."

You brought his hand up to your mouth and you left a little kiss. "It was really hard for me to talk about you. You were one of the greatest things that happened to me. And to know you were captured and saved by Steve, only to be pronounced dead a while later, I didn't know what to do with myself. To have you here, being by my side and talking about how we used to be..." You paused, taking a deep breath, "I love it."

Silence filled the room. It wasn't awkward and it wasn't uncomfortable, it was a happy, calm silence. "It's unfair," Bucky sighed.

"What is?"

"You're still beautiful," He huffed. "You're over 1800 years old, and you only look a hundred. That's unfair."

You laughed lightly, hitting his shoulder. "You're a hundred years old and look twenty-five."

Bucky nodded, making a straight line with his mouth. "You may have a point there, (L/N)."

"May have?" You exploded. "Look at you! There is more than a  _may have_!" You groaned, only to have that being followed by a cough.

Bucky smirked, knowing how easy it was to mess with you. "Hey, you need to stop yelling at me. Bruce said to keep it calm today, and yelling is not calm. Not at all."

You frowned, crossed your arms like a kid, and grunted. "Fine. I'm calm, I'm chill."

"Sure you are."


	14. August 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being stuck in bed is boring, so why not sleep it off if you can't do anything? But of course, your dreams only show memories from your past- this time, how you met Tony Stark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and the next few chapters are some of my favorites to have written for this. Did you see my "Flashbacks? Do you mean a one-shot in a series?" post? It was refrencing this and maaaaybe some other chapters as well. I love Tony Stark. The end.

Like yesterday, you were still stuck in bed. Bruce was unable to figure out your health patterns, and needed you to still be calm so he could try his hardest. However, unlike yesterday, you were feeling much weaker. As well as, it was a much busier day, meaning no one really came by to see you. Sure, in the morning Tony stopped by with Peter before they went to work on random things.

You figured if Bruce wanted you to stay in bed and you were feeling worse, maybe a nap would help. The fatigue effects from the Silver Shadow came at random times, so this must have been one of the times. And of course, since Tony was one of the only people you had seen before sleeping, he was clear in your mind.

_You smiled wide when you watched the press conference Tony Stark held. "I am Iron Man," He spoke, getting all of the reporters to jump up and shout._

_You knew he would amount to big things, and to hear he steered his company away from weapons made you happy. After hearing the death of your dear friend Howard, you knew it would be hard to approach Tony._

_You were going to visit him as soon as you heard the Iron Man news, but figured it would be best to give him space. He would be bombarded with news and reporters and everyone trying to get to him, not to mention villains were around every corner. Of course, you take care of the small thieves you catch in whatever city you are in, while it seems Iron Man deals with more world threats. Which is why it would be smarter to join forces with Tony Stark- your powers should be used for something bigger than robbers, you could help Tony protect the entire world._

_Finally, after nearly two years, you deemed it time to officially meet Tony. He had been revamping his company, not to mention working on Iron Man. You have been busy as well, traveling around the world working with an undeveloped part of the government._

_Tony has passed Stark Industries over to Pepper Potts, and Pepper now has an assistant. "I'm here for an appointment with Tony Stark. My name is (Y/N) (L/N) and I scheduled it a few weeks ago."_

_The receptionist looked at her computer and nodded. "It seems you do. I'll alert him."_

_Only a few minutes later you headed up the elevator with a man. "Happy Hogan, correct?" You asked, and he nodded, a little uncomfortable. "Hi, I'm (Y/N) (L/N), it's a pleasure to meet you."_

_"Of course, you too, Miss (L/N)," The elevator stopped and Happy let you exit before he closed it again. You smiled wide when you saw Tony and walked up to him with as much confidence you could muster up._

_You sat down across from Tony and reached out to shake his hand. "Hi, I'm (Y/N) (L/N)," You smiled. "I have an...interesting proposition for you," You told him, unsure how he would respond._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"I, this is going to sound weird, I worked with your father back during the Second World War," You told Tony. He seemed very disbelieving, like you expected. He looked you up and down and furrowed his eyebrows._

_"That's impossible. Most of the people who worked with my father back then are much older than you, or dead," Tony retorted. "You barely look twenty-five."_

_You weren't sure how to explain this, but your sass took over. "See, that's where you're wrong. I'm much older than twenty-five, but thank you."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"I'm over 1800 years old, Tony, I'm immortal. Hence how I worked with your father, and how I appear to be merely twenty-five. It's hard to understand, and it's hard to explain. But I didn't come here just because I worked with your father, I wanted to ask about working_ with  _you- to defend the world when needed," You rambled on._

_Tony sat still, staring at you in disbelief. "Look, this was great. It was a good laugh, but Miss (L/N), I do not have time for silly games. I'll have Happy show you out, thank you for stopping by," Tony ushered you out, not even giving you a chance to explain yourself._

_Before you knew it, you were back to standing on the sidewalk with your arms crossed. "Fine- you want proof, proof you'll get," You rolled your eyes._ _You looked around for anything that could help- coming across a TV playing news, showing Tony in his Iron Man suit, flying._ _With quick thinking, you mimicked Tony's flight and flew outside to the floor you were previously on. Seeing Tony typing on a computer, you tapped on the glass with a smirk evident on your face._

_Tony turned around to have his face turn from frustration to confusion. "What the hell?" He mumbled, and you sarcastically waved. He rushed over to the window and pushed it open for you to allow yourself inside._

_"Good thing you did that because I wasn't sure how long I could have held that flight. Strange powers, and all," You shrugged. "Will you listen to me now?"_

_Tony nodded, actually intrigued now. You began to explain your power, the best way you could. "I can change my age, all right? That's how I look like this, and I can easily turn to be seventy-two," You paused and your age drastically changed, "Like that," And you turned back. You then explained quickly how your power resembles Darwin's theory and you can mimic another's power for a limited amount of time. Tony didn't know what to think, but he was all for working with you._

_"I'll be honest, I don't know why you came to me. I don't have a team or anything, it's just me fighting off things when they come my way-"_

_You shrugged. "I wanted to make myself known. If you ever need help, you can call me. If I need help, can I count on you? We never know what could be coming, so we should start banding together before it's too late- right?" You offered a smile._

_Tony was going to reply, but there was a knock at the door that cut him off. "Miss Rushman, not right now."_

_"This is by request of Pepper, Mr. Stark, it's extremely important," The door pushed open and your face lit up when you saw who walked through._

_"Natasha!" You squealed. "It's been years!" You ran over and engulfed her in a hug. "What are you doing here?"_

_"Me? I could be asking you the same thing!" Natasha replied. Tony stood at his desk, watching the interaction with complete confusion washed over his face. She leaned in and whispered to you, just so Tony couldn't hear. "Fury sent me on a mission to investigate him for the program. That's why I'm here," She told you. "And you?"_

_You looked back at Tony and laughed lightly. "Trying to get him to work with me. I've done so much in this world that I'm almost sure something bad is going to happen before long. I can count on you and Clint to be there right behind me, right?"_

_"Of course, (Y/N)," Natasha nodded. "Now, I really need to get Mr. Stark to sign these papers for Pepper..." Natasha dragged on and walked over to Tony. "We'll have to catch up later."_

_Tony signed the papers without a word to "Natalie." He watched carefully as she walked out of the room and said her goodbyes to you. "You know, (Y/N), maybe you should stick around for a while."_

_Little did Tony know you two would grow to be best friends. You helped him when Aldrich Killian and the Mandarin threatened him, and any petty little problems. You began to work with SHIELD much more when Natasha and Nick Fury confronted Tony about the initiative for the Avengers. You got very involved with SHIELD, much more than Tony did in the beginning, it was something for you to put your focus on. You grew close with Clint and even more so with Natasha._

_Tony not believing you was probably the best thing to happen to you._

Finally, the memory-dream faded to black and you fell asleep with no disruptions. Bruce monitored everything, and it was much easier when you were calmer and sleeping. He wasn't worried at first, but was much more worried when you slept nearly all day.

Maybe that's what you needed, though. Maybe you needed rest to bring your health back up.


	15. August 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in the 1940s, a lot was happening. You had a boyfriend, and a few really good friends. Except, you weren't allowed to talk about who your best friend was. What happens when a certain someone has to save your boyfriend?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another flashback!! This one is great, but angst!! I love flashbacks.

"(Y/N), we need you to stay awake," Bruce spoke as he slowly touched your face. He gave you medicine to lower some pain, but he desperately needed you to stay awake.

"It'll only be a little while longer," Tony added. "Just, try to distract your mind. Think of something- think of the time you met me!" Tony encouraged.

If you could, you would have laughed. "That was...yesterday," You whispered, feeling like you would doze off. But you knew you couldn't, and before you could actually think of something to keep your mind off of, the Stark name burned into your mind.

_You remember all the times you, Bucky, and Steve went to see Howard Stark give speeches and presentations to show his newest inventions. However, you had already heard and seen it all far before the actual date of the presentation._

_It's a given when one of your closest friends is Howard Stark, after all. You two were close throughout his teenage years and that went all the way until he had a child in his fifties- when you left._

_He was one of the only people who knew of your immortality. Partially because he knew you from such a young age and how close you two are. He knew you before you even met Bucky, meaning he would have been a little freaked out if you fell in love with Bucky and aged differently than what was normal._

_Howard asked you not to tell anyone that you worked with him, even your new boyfriend and friend. You didn't mind keeping it secret, and you didn't ask why. Eventually, he would tell you. And if he asked you, that meant it was important to him, so you would do as asked._

_Even though you worked closely with Steve during the Captain America shows, you were not allowed to accompany him on the trip to rescue Bucky and the others that were captured. It made sense, so you stayed back and met with Howard. Everyone figured there was more to your friendship, Howard being the flirt he is, but you never let him get to you. Being friends was easier, and there would never be any more than that._

_You waited with Howard and Peggy for Steve and Bucky to return with the others. Being together with your boyfriend for nearly seven years, it was weird to be away from him for so long. But everything with your relationship was weird, after being together for so long, many people would be married by then. However, with you and Bucky, you liked the way things were and the two of you didn't feel the need to be married._

_The three of you sat in an uncomfortable silence while you waited. No one was sure what to talk about, and there was too much tension building up for anyone to want to talk. You fiddled with your thumbs, waiting for anything to happen._

_All of the sudden, you fell to the floor, clenching your heart, and your legs to your chest. You screamed out in pain and almost immediately Howard and Peggy sat next to you. Howard elevated your head and Peggy waited back a little to see if there was anything she could do. "(Y/N), what's going on? You need to talk to me so I can help you," Howard blabbed. He was worried about you, and wasn't actually sure what to do._

_"What happened?" Howard asked once your breathing seemed to be stable again._

_Another minute passed before you could actually speak again. "I...Howard...I'm immortal again. My powers are back..." You talked slowly, trying to understand it yourself. It took a minute for Howard and Peggy to process, but it hit them both at the same time._

_Once they realized what happened, both of their hearts dropped._

_Your love died._

_\---_

_After years passed, you learned to move on. Of course, it all still hurt and there would be no regaining what you once had. You lost your boyfriend and your best friend in a matter of days, and that hurt more than you could ever express. However, you have dealt with a lot of loss in your life, so you know ways to cope. But this one hurt the most, probably because it was the one that you loved the most._

_You worked with Peggy and Howard after the war ended, trying to make the world a better place. Peggy and Howard had the idea to start an organization to rival against HYDRA, the organization that kidnapped soldiers and was led by Red Skull. You weren't sure how that was going to work, though, but you wouldn't ruin their ideas with your bad time._

_It also hurt to realize that you shouldn't be around Howard and Peggy with your pessimism. Everything was still affecting you and it was obvious that it was, so you decided it was best for you to depart from working with them and work to better yourself. They protested, of course, trying to get their friend to stay with them. But nothing worked, you were going to do this for yourself._

_Howard met someone and was going to start a family. Peggy met someone as well and was determined to get this organization up and running. You knew you needed to leave._

_It hurt everyone, but it was for the best. It was hard to say goodbye to Howard, as you two have been friends far longer than you managed to be friends with anyone. You knew you would miss Peggy too, but you promised both of them you would see them sometime._

_You didn't think that was the last time you would see Howard. After saying your goodbyes, you practically dropped off the face of the Earth to try and better yourself. One piece of news caught your eye, though, saying that the Starks were killed in a car crash. The next day you decided you needed to reconnect with Peggy. If you messed up with Howard, you could try to fix it with Peggy. But you never got closure, well, not until you met Tony._

"(Y/N)." You were being shaken back into reality by the shoulders. "Come back to us. The tests are over."

You gave off a small smile and opened your arms for a hug, which Tony reluctantly accepted. "Thank you," You told him.

"You're welcome...but for what?" He laughed a little.

"Just, in general. Thank you."

"Always, (Y/N)," He said. "You can get some real rest now, you really need it," Tony told you and went to walk out of the room, smiling once more before shutting the door. He was met face-to-face with Bucky, who seemed to be out of breath. "What's going on?"

"I," Bucky paused, taking a deep breath. "I might have a way to save (Y/N)."


	16. August 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not many people knew you were friends with Howard Stark and Peggy Carter until they had to make a super soldier for the war. Things change quickly when a close friend of yours starts to work with them and finally gets into the army.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the third flashback! There’s only one more, but it’s not tomorrow’s chapter. So yeah. This one was fun as well.

“She’s not doing too well,” You heard Tony sigh. You weren’t quite sure who he was talking to, but everything hurt too much to even move. “Something’s happening. Her health yesterday was fine, but now it’s going haywire.”

With your eyes closed, a sigh was audible. “Have we checked up on the Silver Shadow lately?” You recognized the voice as Steve.

“No, but he hasn’t really done anything recently. He’s been quiet, and it’s strange,” Tony replied. “But I’ll have FRIDAY run a scan to see if he’s anywhere,” Tony said and when you heard the door shut, you weren’t sure if you were alone of if someone was still there.

But it didn’t matter, because you kept slipping in and out of consciousness.

_One of the hardest things you had to do was say goodbye to Bucky. But, at least, while Bucky was fighting the war, you would have Steve to keep you company. Not to mention Howard and Peggy when you went to work with them._

_“We have someone to use the serum for,” Howard told you a few days after Bucky left. “I’m really excited to test it out,” He said as he moved things around in his lab, trying to get everything perfect._

_You smiled at him, patting his shoulder. “That’s great to hear,” You said. “I can’t wait to help you out with it! Who is it?”_

_“Oh, I have no idea. Peggy was the one who found him and will bring him here later,” Howard shrugged, turned to face you, and gave up on cleaning everything. “I will expect you to be here to help. This is monumental and will be important in your immortal life.”_

_You rolled your eyes and lightly punched Howard’s shoulder. “Who knows, maybe this time I won’t become immortal again. Things are going really well with Bucky, and you know that.”_

_“I do. You gossip to me all the time!” Howard laughed. You nodded, admitting that yes, you do gossip a lot to him. After calming down, the two of you decided to go get a small lunch before returning back to the lab to work with the patient and the serum._

_Time passed and you turned around excitedly when the secret door opened. “Peggy, you’re back!” You smiled. “Howard told me all about- Steve?” You gasped when you saw Steve standing next to Peggy, looking around in awe at the room that resembled a hospital. “What the hell are you doing here?”_

_“Me? What the hell are_ you _doing here?” Steve raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms._

_“Wait, (Y/N), you mean to tell me you know him?” Peggy asked._

_Howard nodded in agreement. “Yeah, what is happening right-”_

_“Guys,” You sighed. “That’s Bucky’s best friend. And my friend…you know… I’ve told you about Steve?” You rolled your eyes. “Come on!”_

_Howard and Peggy laughed a little. “When you told us about him, he was not what I was expecting, honestly,” Howard admitted. “Good thing Peggy brought him in for this, because he really needs it.”_

_Steve looked more confused than ever. “(Y/N), what’s going on?” Steve whispered._

_Taking a deep breath, you pulled him off to the side so you could try to explain. “Look, Howard has this serum that could help you improve yourself and get you into the army. It’s really hard to explain, but you just have to trust me on this one. We’ve been working on it for a while and finally, we have someone perfect for it: you.”_

_“No, no, I understand that. I meant…How do you know Howard Stark?” Steve breathed out, having trouble trying to understand it all._

_“Oh!” You laughed. “That’s going to be a lot harder to explain…” You sighed, and started to explain to Steve how the two of you were friends for more than ten years, all throughout the teenage years. Then, like normal, you began to ramble, and somehow explained to him how you are-_ were _\- immortal. Surprisingly, Steve seemed to understand easily what you explained, and you weren’t sure how he could comprehend it so easily, but it made everything a lot better. You were sure that he probably believes anything right now, considering he was standing in a room with Howard Stark. “All right,” You nodded, looking over to Howard and Peggy quickly. “I think we’re going to get started soon.”_

_—_

_After you got over Steve being all “big and buff” you were worried about setting him free. That was, until you realized what he would be doing in the war._

_“Howard, are you hearing yourself?” You rolled your eyes. “You want me to go be a dancer for Steve’s show? You’ve got to be kidding!”_

_“Not at all!” Howard told you. “Look, we’ve got everything under control here. This way, you could keep an eye out for Steve. And you could see Peggy, and you could make sure that nothing will happen to Steve with the serum. It also gives you something else to do,” Howard tried to persuade you._

_You laughed. “You want me to dance?”_

_“You go dancing with Bucky all the time. It’s not like you can’t dance, (Y/N).”_

_After an hour of you and Howard bickering back and forth, you finally gave in and agreed to be a dancer. To Steve’s delight, he was very excited to have you around with this strange job he was given. You had to admit, the dancing would be very fun, but who knew how all the men in the crowd would react to the costumes? It was a big gamble._

_“I know what Bucky is going to say when he sees you,” You told Steve._

_“What?”_

_“Something along the lines of, ‘I thought you were shorter.’” You smirked to your best friend. He laughed a little and looked away to roll his eyes, hitting your shoulder when you snorted at him. “We’re just so close I know what he’s going to say, Steve.”_

_Days passed and you two continued to do the shows, not attracting nearly enough people to join the army. But that wasn’t going to stop the shows, you had to keep going._

_You and Steve were talking when you heard Peggy talking to a few people as she walked by. “Wait, did you say the 107th?” Steve asked, his head turning around quickly and yours jolting up when you recognized the number._

_“Yes, the 107th Infantry has been captured. Why?” Peggy replied, raising her eyebrow as she looked at the now worried faces of you and Steve._

_“Peggy…” You whispered. “That’s Bucky…”_

Your eyes shot open when you remembered how you found out Bucky was captured. You had no idea what to think, but everything you did think landed you in a pit of darkness and heartbreak. You took a deep breath, suddenly feeling much stronger than you did earlier in the day. But alas, it was already dark out, meaning you slept most of the day.

You smiled when you saw Bucky laying on the couch next to your recovery bed, knowing he was okay, and he would be okay. He was here with you now, and you would not allow him to leave this Earth again. Not that easily.


	17. August 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trilogy of flashbacks is done for now, and the Silver Shadow has returned! He spills some juicy details and brainstorming ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angsttttt! ITS GETTING INTENSE, YALL.

You weren't sure that anything was real anymore. Either you feel like you were hallucinating or everyone and everything is transparent. It was hard for you to talk, hell, it was hard for you to even keep your eyes open. You had to focus as hard as you could to keep your breathing stable. And that was extremely hard to do when you had three people running around your room screaming orders at one another.

"Get her on the  _right_ IV, Tony!" Bruce yelled and only a few seconds later there was a needle in your arm. "I'm calling Doctor Cho to see if she has any ideas," Bruce mumbled and the door shut.

"(Y/N), I am not letting you leave us. Not today, not ever," Tony whispered as he stood above you. He opened one of your eyes to make sure your eyes hadn't rolled in the back of your head, and also to see if you were still awake. "That is a promise."

The door opened again and you thought it to be Bruce. "Perhaps I can be of help, possibly," The deep voice of Loki filled the room.

"If you think I'm about to let you touch (Y/N)-" There was Bucky. He wasn't really helping, but was sitting in the corner chair for moral support and to make sure he would get to say goodbye if he had to. He could barely handle this, but he would not leave your side.

"Barnes, I will not hurt (Y/N). She's one of the only ones of you Avengers that I can stand," Loki said and looked to Tony. "May I?" Bucky looked down and shrunk back into his corner seat.

Tony raised his eyebrow. "What are you going to do?"

"It's just a little spell to help stabilize her. It won't help her health, I'm sorry, but it will give her enough strength to stay with us until we can figure something out. She'll be able to stay awake and-"

"Just do it before it's too late," Tony gave in. Quickly, a green energy surrounded you and Loki's eyes were shut as he focused on his spell. In just a few moments, your eyes opened without hesitation and your breathing was back to normal.

You looked around to see that everything was real- there were no more hallucinations and nothing was transparent anymore. "What- what's going on?" You asked and tried to sit up when you were able to keep your eyes open.

"Don't sit, (Y/N)," Loki instructed and put his hand out to stop you. "I just wanted to make things less painful for you. Don't risk it," Loki said, and you laid back down to listen.

Tony opened his mouth to talk, but the door slammed open. You looked over to see Steve barge in, already dressed in his Captain America outfit- you weren't sure if he had that on all day or just casually slipped into it. "Silver Shadow's back. We all need to get out there," Steve reported.

"(Y/N)," Tony turned to you, "Stay here. Don't try to move," Tony warned.

"We'll be back later," Bucky promised and kissed your knuckles before walking out with Tony, Loki, and Steve.

You turned the slightest bit to look outside. You could see your team, but it pained you to not know what they were saying. Well, maybe they'd tell you later. If it weren't for Loki's spell, you would be knocked out and probably thinking of another memory, but you were busy watching your friends fight in a war that you should be involved in as well.

Outside, the Avengers watched the Silver Shadow float in the air. "Good to see you all again!" He called. "You're probably wondering what happened to my army," He started. "See, I'm already getting to you. You just don't know it yet."

"We know you looked at some of (Y/N)'s memories," Tony yelled back. "What do you want? You know how to beat us-"

"Isn't it obvious? I want something that no one else has done before!" The Silver Shadow began to lower, but only by a few feet. "Oh, Wanda," The Silver Shadow looked to her. " _I really need you to focus for me, okay?_ "

As soon as he spoke, Wanda remembered from the first fight was that those were the words you spoke to her as you boosted her confidence and helped her focus. She couldn't say anything, but she dropped her hands that were forming energy and her jaw was stuck open. She couldn't find any words, but just continued to stare at the villain.

He turned to look at Bucky and smiled. Immediately, as he spoke, everyone could tell he was mimicking your voice. " _Bucky, I don't know what to do_ ," He said, sounding close to you. " _I still love you_."

Bucky's heart dropped when he heard that, and turned to his friends. He tried very hard to make it not affect him, but it was  _your_  voice and  _your_  words: it hurt.

"He's still looking at (Y/N)'s memories," Bucky said. "She said that to me and judging by the look on Wanda's face, he used something (Y/N) said to her as well." Wanda didn't say anything, but nodded quickly in agreement.

Steve looked up at the Silver Shadow in anger, putting two and two together. However, he wasn't going to say it if the Silver Shadow didn't know: continuously looking through your memories was what was making you weaker.

"Why are you still using (Y/N)'s memories?" Steve yelled up at the flying evil, his fists tightly shut. "You already know how we work!"

The Silver Shadow bellowed a loud laugh, loud enough for you to even hear in the recovery room. But everything went silent again when they began talking, and you never more wished for super hearing. "Well, I know you've seen her health charts and how it's decreasing. Me looking through her memories drains her. How else would I be able to kill an immortal?" He asked, no one responding. "The only way is to kill her from the inside out."

Loki looked over to Thor and nodded. Within a second, Loki summoned magic and Thor charged his hammer to throw lightning into the magic, and Loki threw the magic at the Silver Shadow.

He vanished just in time.

"Dammit!" Tony yelled and walked around, pacing about what to do. They couldn't defeat the Silver Shadow with anything- no magic, no electricity, nothing. The only thing they know is that something in Peter's web fluid defeats the holograms, but that's it. And that is not enough to get them through this fight and save the world.

Everyone retreated to the base under whatever order they were given. Loki and Bruce went to watch over (Y/N), since Loki gave her the stabilizing spell. Thor and Steve were still trying to track the Silver Shadow down, and everyone else was working on smaller tasks like continuing training or upping their weapons.

Bucky caught up with Tony, and Steve walked over when he saw. "We need to do my plan. It's the only way to save (Y/N)."

Tony looked to Steve and there was an awkward silence as everyone thought. "If you think it will work. Tomorrow, though. Loki's giving her another spell to help her get some needed rest, but one that will still keep her with us. She needs this rest," Tony said.

"We also can't tell anyone," Steve said, getting a nod from the other two. "All right, Buck, make it convincing."


	18. August 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With you not getting any better, Bucky had to try his idea to save you. He won't let you leave this world, not now, not ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no words except for: i'm sorry
> 
> also, sorry for a late update today. i had a bad day and didn't touch my computer at all.

The spell Loki put on you to help you sleep helped a lot. It gave you the rest you needed, but didn't jeopardize your health. You felt rested, but you didn't want to leave your bed. Tony, Bruce, and Steve were much better today when thinking about everything. You knew how worried they were yesterday and you nearly convinced yourself that Loki put a spell on them to get them to calm down, but that was unlikely.

They were trying to figure out how to stop the Silver Shadow from accessing your memories anymore. Which means Tony was making copies of everything they knew about you and would be taking them to the lab so he and Loki could try to figure out a spell to block your mind.

You smiled when the door opened. "Hey, Bucky," You said, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Hey, (Y/N). Hey, guys," Bucky nodded to you and then to his friends. "Uh...can I talk to (Y/N) alone for a few minutes?"

The three looked at each other. "Sure, Bruce and I have to go gives these to Loki so we were just leaving anyway," Tony said and shook a packet of papers. "Steve?"

"Yeah, yeah," Steve nodded. "I should go help Natasha. She asked a few hours ago..." He trailed off and left the room first.

In just a minute, all three of the boys were gone. "What's up, Bucky?" You asked, raising your eyebrow. "Take a seat."

"I'm...I'm okay," Bucky nodded, still standing. He could barely make eye contact with you and you were worried something was wrong. "Look, this is going to be really hard to say-"

"What's wrong?" You interrupted. "You look like you're going to cry."

Bucky took a deep breath. "I need to get a drink of water. I'll be back in a few minutes," Bucky sighed and walked out before you could protest. You tried to call his name, but left him alone to compose himself.

Meanwhile, Tony and Loki were looking over everything in your file. Bruce was working on his own, claiming he couldn't work with Loki around, so it was Tony and Loki alone. "I'm running out of ideas, Stark," Loki groaned. It was easy to see that Loki did like you, he was trying to help keep you alive. And that was unique because Loki doesn't like a lot of people. But you're special, because you knew him before he went all evil and tried to help him get better- he would help you too. "There's always a way around curses, I should know. But this one...I don't think I can crack it without heading back to where I have the correct resources or more time. But in a matter of a few days, (Y/N) could be dead."

"I know, we don't have a few days," Tony sighed and hit the table. "I can't lose her!" He shouted.

Loki nodded. "Stark, I will do anything I can to keep her with us. The spells I can put on her now are merely temporary, that is even if they work. I can't risk giving her an unstable spell and making things worse," Loki tried to tell Tony as calm as he could, hoping not to upset him anymore.

"Let's keep working."

Bucky took his time calming his breathing. He knew if he freaked out while talking to you, things would only go downhill and he didn't want to mess anything up. He had to control his anxiety as much as he could, it was just as important as looking fine on the outside.

He took one last drink of water and walked back into the recovery room. "Hey, you okay?" You asked with a small smile when he returned.

"Yeah...yeah," Bucky nodded, still not making eye contact. "Let's talk."

"You're scaring me. What's wrong, Bucky?" You raised your eyebrow, trying to reach for his hand, but missed when he backed away. "Bucky..."

He took another deep breath and looked down at his feet. "I don't love you anymore, (Y/N)."

You felt your heart break. "W-what? What are you talking about? We talked just a few days ago and you told me-"

"Things change, (Y/N)," Bucky was getting defensive, and you had no idea what to do. "I realized that after so many years without you, I fell out of love. It would never work anyway..." He said. Bucky never looked at you. He knew if he did, it would hurt him even more. Lying to you and knowing it hurt only made him want to stop more so, but he knew he couldn't. He had to save you, he couldn't let you die.

"Bucky," You sighed. You could almost cry, if it weren't for you being so low on energy you probably would have. "You can't just tell me all these heartfelt things one day, but then tell me you don't love me? Who do you think you are?" You growled, now feeling more angry than sad.

Bucky looked at you from the side of his eye and got extremely confused. "Why aren't you back to normal? I don't love you, shouldn't you be immortal again?"

You shook your head. "That's not how it works. Either my significant other dies, or  _I_ fall out of love," You raised your eyebrow in confusion. "That doesn't matter. I think you need to leave, and leave me alone for a while," You told him, not looking at him anymore.

The door shut and you felt your body beginning to shut down. You were in so much pain from Bucky telling you what he did and he wouldn't even look at you. You wanted to scream, you wanted to sob, but all you could do was lay in your bed with your fists clenched and your mind moving at a million miles an hour. But before you could even start trash talking about how terrible things were, you felt it get harder to breathe.

Your heart hurt and you were gasping for as much air as you could get. Your hands were weak and your eyes were heavy. You heard the machines around you change speed and you weren't sure what was happening.

The door slammed open a few seconds later. "Loki, do the spell! She's flatlining!"

The last thing you saw was green engulfing you before you blacked out. You weren't sure if you were going to make it through this.

Bucky watched in horror through the glass door. If you didn't make it, he would have to live his whole life with the guilt that the last thing he told you was that he didn't love you. Even though he did, he loved you more than anything.


	19. August 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you're sure you're going to die, you fall asleep and remember one of the most important days of your life: meeting your love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, i tried something really cool with this. IDK if you noticed, but all of the flashbacks are in order backward! It started with meeting Tony, working with Howard and Steve, then losing Bucky. Today you get the one that is the furthest back, and will conclude the flashbacks: meeting Bucky (and Steve)! With this, if you're reading close enough, you can see that there is some hidden meaning behind some of the setting. If you are curious what it means, or don't see it, send me an ask/message and I will be more than happy to explain it! A lot of thought went into this one, and I love it a lot.

You weren't sure if you were alive anymore. Your eyes were open, but you could barely tell your surroundings. You were pretty sure you were in the recovery room still, but you were having trouble breathing and even keeping your eyes open. The lights were insanely bright and your head was pounding so hard you were sure it was going to explode.

"You're still here, (Y/N)," Loki's voice echoed. He may have been whispering, but to you, it was the loudest noise you had ever heard.  "We're going to find a way to save you. Get some rest while this spell helps stabilize you more," Loki directed and you happily obliged, closing your eyes and quickly falling asleep.

_You were standing in a local bar that you and Howard visit on the stressful nights. Being an inventor is hard, and while having a friend with powers beyond your wildest beliefs, it still is hard when their power doesn't have much to do with inventing. However, while you may come here with Howard every once in a while, you were here alone. He was busy and you were stressed, yet bored at the same time. Why not pass time while hanging around a bar? Hell, you didn't even need anything alcoholic- people watching is fun enough._

_"Hey dollface," A man stood across from you. "Would you like something to drink?"_

_You glanced up at him- it was the man you had been eyeing since you walked in. He was mildly attractive, but that didn't mean you wanted anything. "No, thank you, I'm fine as is," You smiled back._

_He nodded and sat down. "Are you here alone?"_

_You didn't want to have him talk to you much longer, and you had done this with many people to avoid them. It wasn't that you disliked the man, you just knew you couldn't let this happen. With your...immortality, and all. "Actually, no. I'm with my boyfriend," You nodded once to confirm this._

_"Oh," The man sighed. "I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone. It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss." And within seconds, he stood up and walked away._

_You looked around a few minutes after the man walked away. You saw him in the back of the bar, watching over everything.  To be honest, you didn't intend to hurt him. You also didn't want him to figure out you were lying and have him come back over to you and try to call you out on what you did._

_You saw a small man walk into the bar and smiled. You watched as he walked around and ordered a drink. With a smile on your face, you stood up to walk to him. However, when you stood up, you almost fell over by moving too quickly. And you were sure that didn't happen when this memory originally became. But after the slow walk over to the man, you finally got to introduce yourself. "Hi, I'm (Y/N)," You said._

_The man smiled. "Hi, (Y/N). I'm Steve, can I help you?" Steve asked, laughing a little at the strange introduction, there was no lead-up, but he didn't mind. Someone was talking to him._

_"Can you do me a quick favor and pretend to be my boyfriend?" You asked quickly. "I'm...well, I don't want to hurt this guy's feelings, so it would really mean a lot if you could do this for me?" You asked, a hopeful look on your face._

_Steve laughed a little. "Sure," He shrugged and took a sip of his drink._

_You smiled and thanked him with a hug. Within a minute, the man from earlier walked over. You weren't sure if he walked over because of you or not, but you didn't really care...for the most part. You focused on talking with Steve more than anything else, and you really did enjoy getting to know him. "So, is this your boyfriend?" The man asked, making you turn around. "Oh, I don't mean to be rude. I'm generally curious," He apologized._

_You nodded. "It's okay, but, yeah," You shrugged and turned back to your make-believe boyfriend. "I actually have to get going, Steve, but I'll see you later!" You smiled once more and stood up, trying to keep steady, and walked away. You did, however, give Steve one last hug, sure you would never see either of the boys again._

_The next day you were walking to meet up with Howard for a project. But that wasn't until much later, so you had time to stop for breakfast. You could have passed out when you looked at the sun, which was another thing you didn't remember. The sun wasn't the light yellow you knew, it was just one big bright white light. But you brushed it off, and walked through town to get to a small diner you have grown to love._

_You almost screamed when you walked in to see the man from last night, Steve, sitting in a booth. But, you just laughed to yourself and threw him a smile. He waved lightly to you, then waved you over with a bigger smile. "I'm going to be honest, I didn't think I was going to see you again., You laughed._

_"It's a small world. We both like the same diner?" Steve asked._

_"Oh yeah, I don't get to come here a lot, but it's amazing," You awed. "How are you? Thank you for the favor from last night."_

_Steve nodded. "I'm good, good," He confirmed. "And you're welcome." In the back of your mind, you heard the diner bell ring to signal another person walking in. But you didn't think much of it, until Steve laughed a little. "(Y/N), there's someone I want you to meet," He pointed behind you. "Bucky Barnes, who just so happens to be my best friend."_

_"Well, I'll be damned," You mumbled under your breath when you turned around to see the man from last night, whose name turned out to be Bucky. A smile flashed across Bucky's face, and you noticed all the colors in the diner get brighter, hurting your head. One more thing you didn't quite remember happening, but let it slide before worrying._

_"Steve! It's your girlfriend!" Bucky smirked, standing between you and Steve._

_You took a deep breath and turned to Steve. "I can't believe you played along! To get me away from your best friend!" You gasped, hitting Steve's shoulder. You don't know where this idea came from, but you went for it without thinking of the consequences. "Steve, just for that, I'm breaking up with you," You said, making both of the boys laugh a little. You then turned to Bucky with a new, fresh look on your face. "Bucky, do you want to go on a date? I'm single now!" You jumped on your heels._

_Bucky laughed harder this time and he stuck out on his hand. "I'd love to. Would you like to grab some breakfast?"_

_"I would be honored."_

_"I'm being left alone by my pretend-girlfriend_ and _my best friend!" Steve yelled as you and Bucky walked over to another booth to eat. But Steve didn't really mind, his friend was getting the girl._

_\---_

_You laid on the floor of Howard's lab later that day. You helped him with the project, ultimately coming to the conclusion that it would take at least six more months to finish, and gave up for the night. "I know you're dying to tell me what happened today," Howard sighed and set down his tools, sitting on the floor next to you. "So, talk."_

_A quick smile grew on your face, ready to tell Howard about everything. You started with last night, telling him how you used your normal "I'm here with my boyfriend" and how it still continues to work. "But I cannot believe he played along, knowing it was his best friend?"_

_Howard playfully gasped and put a hand over his heart. "No!"_

_"Yes!" You told him in complete seriousness. "So, then I broke up with Steve and ate breakfast with Bucky. Howard...he's...he's so sweet," You giggled a little._

_"I still can't believe you didn't fall for me and my charm," Howard joked._

_You rolled your eyes. "Shut up," You slapped him. "But Howard, I didn't avoid him because I was scared of him. I avoided him because I was scared that I would like him...and, you know how I do in relationships."_

_"You are scared to fall in love with him," Howard concluded._

_You covered your eyes and groaned. "I'm usually really good at stopping myself. But...he makes it so easy. And I already know it, I already know I'm falling."_

_"After one date?" Howard raised an eyebrow._

_You nodded, hands still covering your face. "I'm scared, but maybe I just have to face my fears."_


	20. August 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After too many times of almost losing you, the Silver Shadow returns yet again with a new surprise. This time, he follows through with his promises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I...apologize. This is the climax of the story, so yeah, be prepared.

Your eyes fluttered open slowly to see Loki peering over you. "How do you feel, (Y/N)?"

"Like dog shit. That has been stepped on. With a steel-toed boot. By a bear."

"Wonderful," Loki chuckled. "I put another spell on you. It's still a little...unstable. But I'm monitoring you closely and I have an idea on how to make it all better, all right?"

You nodded and looked around the room. Loki was the only one in the room with you, yet you didn't question why. You figured if he was trusted enough to watch over you alone, then so be it, you trusted him too. He didn't say much, but jumped when he heard a small explosion outside. "Ah, right on time," Loki nodded.

"Hmm?" You asked, curious as to what was going on.

Loki looked at you from the door. "I figured our favorite villain would make an appearance today. Time to show him who's boss."

"Be careful," You called before turning over to look out the window, yet again, watching without being able to hear or offer help. You saw everyone line up outside and start talking to the Silver Shadow, who was already hurling more than just his hologram army. You gained enough strength to grab the tablet off the table next to your bed and listen in on the cameras that were put outside.

The Silver Shadow's laugh powered over everyone. "You thought I was just a weak villain, didn't you? I was  _waiting_  for the perfect moment to strike. I finally figured it all out, and now I can really take you down! Who would go to take over the world when the Avengers are in the way? Might as well get rid of them first, then the world will be mine for the taking!" Silver Shadow bellowed. "Full force!" He shouted.

All of the sudden, a giant machine appeared out of thin air. You couldn't tell if it was a hologram too, or if it were just invisible and he decided to show it off now. But it was big, and it looked dangerous. "I'm sure you'd all love to know what it can do-"

"Yeah, and you know what? I bet you won't even show us," Bucky laughed, crossing his arms and looking around at the team, rolling his eyes as he did. "Because it's all you've ever done. You tell us about all these things you have planned, hoping it will scare us away," Bucky continued, and you were begging him to stop through the screen.

The team looked at him with wide eyes. "What are you doing, Barnes?" Sam whispered harshly.

Bucky ignored his team's worries. "For all we know, you don't have anything! Besides an army that can easily be hacked and destroyed by the stuff in the web fluid, we aren't sure you are all powerful," He didn't stop and it was clearly angering Silver Shadow. "All I know about you is that you have some small powers and an easy-to-beat army. You really think you can take on us, as a whole team, and expect to come out victorious?" He yelled, also getting angrier.

"Oh, so you want proof that I know what I'm doing, do you?" The Silver Shadow taunted.

Pietro laughed a little as he looked over at your room, trying to remind Bucky that you're still there. Then he looked to the Silver Shadow with an apologetic look on his face. "No, no, he just hasn't slept well and-"

"I'll show you what I can do!" Silver Shadow stopped Pietro and waved his hands around, making the machine turn into a bright blue mallet. It was like the machine shapeshifted and turned into another hologram- which only confused you more. It seemed like something straight out of a comic book you recall reading many years ago, or something Vision or Loki could create.

Within a split second, the mallet turned into a thousand more hologram fighters, all with new and improved weapons, heading straight for Bucky. A few grabbed him and held him in the air as a few more with large guns pointed at him, not hesitating to shoot. They didn't stop, they shot multiple times and never missed Bucky. Once they were instructed to stop, they dropped Bucky to the ground.

You were trying to process what happened. Everyone stared around, not sure what to say. "Now you know I'm not messing around. Who's next?" He asked, the smaller, blue enemies all joining together to create a giant blue enemy.

"No!" Wanda shouted and conjured up a bubble that seemed to be surrounded by lightning, or something to do with electricity. She didn't hesitate and threw the bubble directly at the Silver Shadow. It was clear that it affected him, because the blue machine fell apart and vanished again; going invisible.

You felt your IV come out of your arm as you fell off the bed, screaming and holding your heart. You were having trouble breathing and you were now laying on the ground, curled up in a ball as you held your knees to your chest.

Silver Shadow retreated with his crazy machine and his army. This was the first time the team was sure he retreated because of fear, but they didn't care about that. "I can't...I can't believe it," Clint mumbled.

"He...he's..." Natasha was having trouble getting her words out, not sure what to say.

Steve stared at the lifeless body. "I..." He finally spoke. "I'll take him inside."

"I'll help you," Loki nodded. Steve picked up the body and they were the first two to walk in. The rest stood around, silent, trying to cope with losing a member of their team.

Wanda was crying into Clint's chest. She wasn't super close with Bucky, but she has seen a lot of death in her days. And to lose her family as a kid, almost lose her brother, and now to accept Bucky into this family of Avengers and actually lose him; it hurt her.

Pietro and Sam stood in shock as Natasha fell to the ground. Again, none of them were the closest with Bucky. But they didn't actually expect Bucky to keep going long enough for him to get himself killed.

"Oh my god," Tony mumbled, grabbing the attention of Bruce and Thor. "(Y/N)!" He yelled and took off running toward the recovery room. The door was thrown open to find you panting on the floor, sitting on your knees with your hands on the ground as well, and you crying. "(Y/N)..." Tony walked closer. "What's going on?"

You looked over the slightest bit to see your friends standing in the room. You were young again, and there were tears streaming down your face as you held your chest. "Tony...he's gone..."

He took a deep breath, understanding what this meant. "You're immortal again."

"Bucky's dead..." You whispered through your cries.

Wanda and Natasha walked past Tony to help you stand, and turning to take you to your room so you could get out of the dreaded recovery room and talk it through, or have them distract you. "I can't believe he's gone...again," You cried into their hug as they walked with you.

Tony sighed and went to find Loki and Steve. He looked through every hallway he passed and after he ran out of breath, he was lucky to finally find the two. "She's back. Heartbroken, but she's back," Tony told the two of them.

"I feel terrible," Steve groaned and covered his eyes with his hands. Loki stayed silent.

"So, where is he?" Tony asked after a minute of quiet.

Loki looked to Steve. "The safe house. Is that what it's called?" Loki asked, getting a nod from Steve. "Okay, yes, he is at the safe house."


	21. August 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Bucky is gone and you have your powers back, the most painful part is here: Remembering Bucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not all angst. there's some fluff. If I titled the chapters this one would be called Remembering Bucky.

Pain.

Pain from almost dying and having trouble breathing. Pain from 1800 years of thoughts and memories. Pain from losing the love you just got back.

Sitting on your bed, you held your knees to your chest, trying to hold back the uncontrollable tears and push the thoughts out of your mind. How could you let this happen? You're supposed to be all-powerful and help as many people as you can, why couldn't you help Bucky?

The knock at your door snapped you out of your thoughts and forced you to look up, sniffing a few times before saying anything. "W-who is it?" You choked out.

"Wanda and Natasha," Called Wanda from outside. "Can we come in, (Y/N)?" She asked carefully.

You grunted. "Sure," You wiped your eyes. "It's open," You called and grabbed the blanket off the end of your bed, throwing it over your legs and resuming the knees-to-chest position you were previously in.

The two girls entered the room slowly as they tried to hide the sadness on their faces. They were here to support you and help you cope, they didn't want to bring you down more. "How are you feeling, love?" Natasha asked and took a seat on the end of the bed, Wanda making herself comfortable closer to you with her legs crossed.

You shrugged, falling on your back and throwing the blanket over your head. "Why did he have to die? He's been through so much. I've lived for so many years, I should have died."

Wanda engulfed you into a tight hug. "Don't say that. We all know Bucky would have died for you, (Y/N), if he heard you saying these things right now, he would tell you about how much he loves yo-"

"He doesn't love me!" You shouted when you pulled away from the hug.

The two girls stared at you with blank looks, unsure what to say or do at this sudden outburst. "What do you mean?" Natasha asked. "It was clear how much he loved you. Even the way he looked at you, even with you being older and mortal, he still had a lovestruck look in his eye. I've been following Bucky with Steve for a while now, and I have never seen such a soft look from him. It was genuine and true, it was obvious he cared for you."

You sucked in a breath, tears beginning to stream down your face at Natasha's words. "No...three days ago he came into my room and told me he doesn't love me anymore."

Wanda nodded. "I heard. I asked him what happened when I found him upset, and he opened up to me. That was the first time we really talked and, (Y/N)," Wanda grabbed your hand, "He was lying. He couldn't bear to see you in such bad shape and just wanted to try to get you back to normal," Wanda told you.

You looked up with hopeful eyes. "What?"

"Is that true, Wanda?" Natasha raised her eyebrow.

"Yes, it was Bucky's idea to try and save you. I guess...he was so mad that it didn't work and you nearly died, he got so angry and took it out on the Silver Shadow," Wanda stopped herself before she continued, hoping you would let the mention of his death slide.

You did, luckily, and just smiled. "I miss him already," You said. "When he fell off the cliff all those years ago, I was heartbroken. Howard and I were working on a new project, but I couldn't help for weeks because I couldn't think straight," You told the two. "I don't know how fighting is going to work. I've never had to fight when I'm this unstable."

"We'll figure it out," Natasha smiled. "We're all here, right beside you, ready to help."

You nodded. "Thank you, really," You told them. "I still remember all the things we talked about. Before he went into the war, we did so much together. We weren't only dating, we were the best of friends, just like how he was with Steve. We would hang out with Steve and a few of my other friends, but we did so much alone, too. We would go into a lot of little boutiques to just look around, look at cute clothes, and just sit in restaurants and diners for hours upon hours talking. Sometimes we could even go to the movies. It was hard to do all those things with the aftermath of the depression and the war going on, but we made it work," You rambled on.

The two girls listened to you in awe as you talked about your relationship with Bucky. It was innocent and adorable, but still insanely loving. "I remember one time we walked through a place that sold wedding dresses. We looked at them for a while, then began to imagine our wedding. I picked out the dresses I liked, we looked at suits for him that would match. We talked about the month and the decorations, like colors and balloons and stuff. The cake we would want and who we would invite. The entire menu and the seating chart. I wanted it all," You sighed at the memory. "Then we realized that we didn't need a wedding. We were already dating for so long that we liked how things were, and weddings were expensive. But it was still fun to fantasize about. I think I talked about all our ideas for a week straight, just loving the cuteness of it," You smiled at the memory. "But then I told him if he threw cake in my face, I would divorce him."

Wanda laughed a bit at the end, but Natasha only smirked. "I mean, that's reasonable." Natasha shrugged.

"Thank you!" You yelled. "He called me insane."

The three of you laughed as you remembered your time with Bucky. It was true, the best of friends really do make the best relationships. And you would give anything to have him back.

"Everything happens for a reason, though, right?" Natasha asked.

"I still don't understand why it happened though," You sighed.

Wanda shrugged. "Maybe the world was calling out for your help."

You nodded again, thinking about the entire conversation. "When I first lost Bucky, I had Howard and Peggy to talk to about my pain. Now I have you guys; so, thank you. So much."


	22. August 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Silver Shadow returns! Finally, you are able to get back into action, but were you ready? Fighting in an unstable position is not the smartest thing you could have done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty angsty, not gonna lie. Don’t worry, I will make up for all of the angst pretty soon!

You isolated yourself in your room. Even though talking to Wanda and Natasha yesterday was nice and enjoyable, you just wanted a day to yourself to think through everything. You wanted to throw a bunch of blankets on your bed and barricade yourself in the warm fluffiness.

But you knew that couldn’t happen. When you heard an explosion outside, you groaned and threw all the blankets onto the floor. You quickly changed into your fighting outfit, not sure how anything in this fight was going to go. But alas, as a superhero, you have to take risks. You rushed outside to meet the rest of your team, only seeing the Silver Shadow aiming a large weapon at the base. “I’ve had enough of this!” He shouted. “I’m getting rid of the Avengers once and for all, then everything I want will be mine!”

The Silver Shadow did not hesitate and the giant weapon moved to aim at Tony. “Maybe this would be more fun to take you out one by one,” He laughed loudly. “Yes, that sounds amazing. We’ll start with Stark!” Silver Shadow yelled and held his hand up, creating electricity and aiming it at the weapon to power it up.

“No!” You shouted. Looking at Pietro, you mimicked his speed and took off running to get to Tony. Then, you turned into a protective shield to save him. “I won’t let you hurt anyone else I care about!”

The Silver Shadow gasped and he looked shocked. “(Y/N)? You’re alive? How? I killed you!” He shouted.

“Yeah, well, you were wrong,” You rolled your eyes with your arms crossed. “There is no getting rid of me. Not that easily,” You grumbled.

“Well, after your team is gone, you’ll be useless,” Silver Shadow shrugged and the weapon grew.

You were getting angry. Everything was building up inside you. Your anger toward the Silver Shadow, losing Bucky, potentially losing your friends. “No one here deserves to die. Except for the person trying to, you know, take over the world!” You shouted and you could feel your hands exerting the energy you mimicked from Silver Shadow.

He was laughing at you. “You, kill me?” He laughed. “Yeah, I’ll see you all around-”

“You’ll be cheek to cheek in hell with a dead girl walking before I let you hurt them!” You shouted and all of the sudden, a bunch of energy and electricity came out of your body. It flashed so brightly everyone had to shield their eyes. It hit every one of your teammates, the Silver Shadow, and his weapons- which shut down by the sudden mass of electricity.

Your eyes opened and you saw the Silver Shadow grab at his heart and fly away- you actually hurt him. He retreated! But when you looked down to your friends, you realized that all of them were on the ground. Some were out cold, some were still barely awake and groaning in pain.

Running up to Tony, you tried to figure out what was wrong. However, he was barely able to move, let alone speak.

You ran inside and grabbed your phone. Calling the only person you could think of, you called the reliable Peter Parker. After explaining that your team is in pain and that you have no idea what happened, he promised to be on his way to help as much as he could. You were freaking out, unsure what happened or how to fix this.

All of the sudden you felt a gust of wind hit your back. “Are you okay, (Y/N)?” Pietro’s voice carried from the other side of the room.

_Right, speedy recovery._

“I…I don’t know what happened,” You muttered, not turning back to look at him. “I got angry and hit all of you,” You sighed. “I probably almost killed all of you.”

Pietro walked closer to you. “Look at me, I’m okay. It hurt like hell, but I’m still here!”

“You’re different though,” You told him. “You recover quicker than anyone else.”

Pietro shrugged, not sure what to say for a minute. “Well, maybe we should start bringing them inside so they aren’t just sitting out there.”

Nodding, you told him you called Peter as well and the two of you started to carry your friends inside the base. Some were already feeling better, as they were standing further away from you.

But Tony…he was standing right beside you. He was impacted the most because of how close he was when you exploded. He was unconscious and not responding. Even his suit was out, meaning FRIDAY was unable to report anything to you. Luckily, Bruce was not nearly close to you to be out for too long and started running tests and watching over Tony to ensure he was okay. While you and Bruce were watching over Tony, Peter and Pietro were helping the rest of the team.

“What do you think happened?” Peter asked Natasha.

She shrugged and took a sip of the coffee Peter got for her earlier. She was one of the ones feeling better, as she was also pretty far away from you. “I’m not sure, honestly. (Y/N) was getting angry and all of the sudden, we were knocked out. I think she’s still unstable from everything that’s happened lately, and that makes controlling her emotions a little harder, which is making fighting harder as well,” Natasha rambled on. “I’m worried about her. We need to help stabilize her feelings again.”

“How do we do that?” Peter questioned.

Natasha sighed and took another drink. “I don’t know. Wanda and I talked with her yesterday, but I guess it didn’t help as much as we thought. I guess, maybe, someone else could help,” Natasha looked around the room. Steve was still out, as was Wanda. She couldn’t tell for some, but Loki and Thor were sitting up, looking untouched.

Back in the other room, you and Bruce were focused on Tony. “He should be okay,” Bruce said. “He’s just out cold from the shock. We’re lucky that we’ve dealt with this kind stuff before, so we know how to fix it. He just needs some time and a little bit of rest, along with this medicine, and he should be back to normal in just a few hours.”

“I…I thought I killed you guys.”

“If we didn’t know what we were doing, it could have ended a whole lot worse,” Bruce said. He didn’t mean any harm, but he knew arguing with you was not going to end well.

You nodded. “Okay, I’ll be back to check on Tony in a few hours. I’m going to go bury myself in a blanket mountain…again,” You mumbled. Before Bruce could reply, you walked out of the room and quickly ended up at your room. Picking up the blankets from the floor, you laid down and threw them on top of you. Groaning loudly, all you wanted to do was cry.


	23. August 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost killing your whole team is traumatizing. But once someone is feeling better, they make it their duty to help you cope with the hardships you’ve been going through as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remembering Bucky Part Two.

You told FRIDAY to not let anyone in your room, and for the most part, she obliged and kept your room clear of anyone. All you wanted to do was sulk in your mountain of blankets and try to get over your heartbreak. You had to become more stable so you could fight again without endangering anyone else.

However, when there was a knock on your door and all you did was groan, the door opened. “I thought FRIDAY would keep the door locked,” You muffled through the blankets.

“Too bad, because I’m here,” You heard Clint say and right as he finished speaking you felt him sit on the end of the bed. “You know, sitting underneath all these blankets isn’t going to change anything. I know it hurts like hell, trust me, (Y/N), I know,” Clint told you. “But sometimes you just have to keep going to distract yourself from it until you can move on.”

“I don’t want to move on,” You mumbled.

Clint sighed. “I know. He was a good man, he loved you so much,” Clint said. “But think about it. Would Bucky want you to sit here blaming yourself instead of getting out there and doing something about it?” He asked.

You sat quietly for a moment and never replied to the question. “Okay, I’ll answer it for you. He wouldn’t. He would want you to know that he loved you and wants you to let him go. He would want you to get out there and help you save the world from the person who killed him. He would want you to be strong through such a hard time,” Clint told you. He started slowly peeling back the blankets one by one, trying to uncover you.

“I wish he were still here,” You cried.

“We all do. Sure, some of us didn’t know him like you or Steve, but he was still great to get to know. He and Wanda got along pretty well, and he was friends with Natasha. Sam and he may not have gotten along the best, but I can assure you Sam did not want him dead- but everything happens for a reason,” Clint stated.

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” You groaned, tears still forming in your eyes.

Clint didn’t respond as he got to the last blanket. You didn’t protest when he pulled back the one covering your face. He could see your tear stained cheeks and was aware how much you were hurting. “Oh, (Y/N),” He sighed. “I don’t know. It’s because it’s true, perhaps, that everything happens for a reason. The reason you met Tony’s dad, and Peggy Carter, and Bucky, and Steve…” Clint said. “Then met Tony, then the rest of us. It all happened for a reason, leading us up to the moment of right now.”

“Bucky didn’t have to die.”

“But then you would have died,” Clint reasoned.

You took a deep breath. Death was always scary since you never knew what coming close to it was like, but you’ve lived for so long that it wasn’t worth it. “Bucky died back in the forties,” You started, “I would have died so he wouldn’t have had to die again.”

“You’re sweet,” Clint smiled and stood up. “Now, you are going to get out of bed, get dressed, and we’re going for a walk. I know how much it all hurts, but I’m not letting you let Bucky down by staying in bed moping all day. Once we defeat the Silver Shadow, we can both eat gallons of ice cream together while watching shitty reality TV,” Clint bargained and held out his hand to help you up.

“Ooh,” You awed, trying to be a little happier, “That sounds like a pretty good deal.”

—

Walking with Clint did help. He knew what to say and how far to push before it became too much. He let you talk all you wanted about Bucky and never stopped unless you did first. You reminisced about all the years you two spent together and he was amazed at how different the times are.

“We would go dancing once a week,” You started. “Sometimes he would get Steve a date and we would all go together, but most times he bailed on us and we went alone. It was so much fun, they played all the popular music and we just  _knew_  how each other danced and we danced so well together. I had someone ask us if we had planned our dances, and we were surprised because we hadn’t. It just showed how well we knew each other.”

Clint nodded, a smile evident on his face when hearing all your stories. “Weren’t you guys together for a long time?”

“Seven years.”

“I can’t believe you guys weren’t married. Wasn’t it a little strange?” He questioned.

You shrugged, thinking for a moment. “Not really. Well, not to us. To others, they thought it was kind of weird since we were together for so many years anyway. Especially with the war going on, people wanted to seal the deal. But for us, just dating was working perfectly. We acted like we were married, but we weren’t. We lived together, did a lot together everyday, and just acted like the best of friends who were married. For some reason, neither of us wanted to get married, so we kept the dating title,” You rambled. “That was super repetitive. I’m just used to people not understanding it, and to get them to understand it I had to repeat everything a few times,” You trailed off, going silent.

Clint smiled and put his arm around you, pulling you into a hug. “Bucky would be so happy you got your powers back. Now, you know what he wants you to do?” Clint asked and let go. Turns out, your walk ended with the two of you standing in front of the Avengers Facility. You smirked when you saw the big Avengers logo towering and everyone running around inside and out of the facility.

With puffy eyes you looked at the facility. “He would want me to kick Silver Shadow’s ass.”


	24. August 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally back on track, you're ready to kick ass. And not half-assed kick ass, it's full force. Time to end the Silver Shadow's villainry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love this one. it's so cool to picture in my mind im jirekfuwbfke. HERE WE GO.

Feeling better than before, you were ready to end this. You would no longer let the Silver Shadow hang over your heads and threaten you. It was time to do something and stop his strange, evil ways. Call his bluff, take him down, do something to stop him and avenge your beloved. You would not let him get away with killing the person you loved and potentially take over the world.

And he was right on time from what you assumed. You knew he would back; you didn't know how you knew, but you knew he would be back today. And you were correct, he came back with his army and machines full force. However, he had no idea what you and your team were planning. He couldn't see your thoughts anymore, and he wasn't ready for what you had in the works.

The team looked beaten up. They looked tired and done with this entire fight. "Just tell us what you want," Tony groaned. He had a black eye and his armor was falling apart.

"You all dead, of course," Silver Shadow began. "I'd like to thank you, (Y/N), though," He said, "For helping get your team's health down low. It saves me some of the trouble."

You glared, but didn't say a word. Even you looked beaten up and worn out, ready for the fight to be over. "It seems you're all giving up, is that correct?" Silver Shadow boomed with a big smile on his face.

Everyone looked around and Steve spoke first. "I guess that's one way you could put it."

"Perfect!" He exploded, looking more evil than before. "Glad you all realized you're no match for me-"

You stopped listening to what he had to say. Underneath the illusion that you all were doing terrible and beaten up that Loki so kindly put on the team, you had a plan.

Looking to Thor, he nodded just enough so you and Loki would be the only ones to see it. Without hesitating, the three of you started moving and working out the plan. Thor conjured lightning, Loki created magic, and you mimicked the electricity power the ever so lovely Silver Shadow has.

The three of you came together and shot the powers together, slowly getting closer to the Silver Shadow as you did so. One by one, others from your team joined in. First Tony, followed by Wanda, then Rhodey, and finally Vision. Silver Shadow looked shocked at first, not quite sure what was going on.

Altogether, your group started to move back, but you stayed close. You mimicked the flight and began to fly close to the Silver Shadow. He was obviously more damaged and getting hurt, which was good for you. He wasn't able to fend anything off and you knew you were causing him pain when his army disappeared, then a few seconds later his machines went away as well.

You flew closer and closer while the rest of the team's powers still hit the Silver Shadow from a little ways away. Now face to face with the Silver Shadow, you smirked. "Give up?" You raised your eyebrow.

The Silver Shadow tried to laugh, but before he could you hit him with one last stroke of his electricity. You watched with amusement and tired eyes as his Tony Stark-ified eye fell from the air. You noticed that without the eye, Silver Shadow began to lose altitude- as did you.

Tony quickly swooped up and grabbed you and Wanda created a bubble to cushion Silver Shadow's fall. He was bruised and covered in ashes. He looked like he was going to pass out and he was barely able to move or even get a word out. "I can't believe you thought you would win. You gave us  _weeks_  to figure out a plan. Hell, you gave my team time to save me!" You laughed. "Your plan was poorly executed," You said and stepped on the evil, robot eye. "I give you a one out of ten. Three for style, though."

\---

Tony had to make calls to his connections to figure out what to do with Silver Shadow, and Loki and Thor suggested the Asgardian prison. Wanda and Vision were working on restoring their powers, as they were not meant to be used like that. Pietro was checking up on everyone to ensure they were okay, while Natasha and Sam were double checking everything around. Bruce was watching the out-cold Silver Shadow and his vitals, along with Rhodey for moral support. You and Steve sat in your room as you recovered as well. 

Taking that much power from the Silver Shadow caused fatigue, but you were glad it was over. Harming the Silver Shadow was tough, and there was an important reason why the team needed you back in action. They, and you, figured that if they couldn't hurt Silver Shadow with their weapons much, then they had to do what he said.

Take him down from the inside out. It was the same way he wanted to kill you, and once he said that, the idea stayed in Tony's brain. But little did he know that it was in your brain too when you talked to Clint- Silver Shadow wanted to kill you so badly that he didn't even realize that he gave your team the answer on how to win. His power was the only way to take him out, and with you being able to mimic powers, it worked perfectly.

It also turned out that Silver Shadow did not have the power of flight- it was just something the powerful eye. When you destroyed it, it took away his flight, his hackable-holographic army, and his weapons. 

"I think he could have defeated us if he did things differently," You admitted. "He went away for a few days and gave us time to recover. He used the same tactics but never used what he found out against us. Like when we would hack his army, he never used that against Tony. He threatened it, but never went through with it," You complained a little.

Steve nodded when he listened. "I think he didn't know how to use it against us. He wasn't prepared to take on the whole team and then some."

"I mean, he took forever to try and kill me. And when he tried to expose me to the public, it went viral for a day but no one really cared. It's not like they could come to the base and try to get me," You said. "He got close to killing me, but then he backed off. It was weird."

Sighing, Steve put his arm around you. "I'm glad he didn't kill you, though."

"Me too," You said and looked down at your phone screen to see a picture of Bucky. You smiled with a small tear in your eyes, remembering more good times.


	25. August 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Silver Shadow out of the picture, Tony talks about the fight with him and reporters bombard you. Once being saved by your knight in shining armor, back to the base to find out more fun stuff!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can't believe this story is almost over in sIX DAYS IM CRYING. i'm so falling behind on writing though im having mixed feelings.

"We're going to make this quick, mostly because it wasn't very big," Tony began at the sudden press conference he arranged yesterday. "Over the last few weeks, The Avengers had an annoying villain visit us and try to take us out. He was not a huge danger to the world, because he wanted to get rid of us first. Just yesterday we defeated him and he will be taking residence in a secure prison in a secret base. I know some of you saw his holographic army a few days back, but we took care of them and we are all still here to protect your world," Tony said. "I only have time for a few questions."

He called on a random reporter and she shouted out a question. "What about the video of (Y/N) (L/N) that surfaced back on August Eleventh? Was she no longer immortal?"

Tony took a deep breath, thinking of a way to respond to the question. "That's half-way classified. She did turn mortal for a few days, yes, but she is back to normal now and will continue to stay immortal. Next question?" Tony quickly tried to change the subject.

You were watching the press conference from a coffee shop down the street from where it was happening. You just wanted a break from the Silver Shadow, but you couldn't seem to get away.

As soon as Tony mentioned you, you knew people in the coffee shop looked over at you. And within seconds, a few people ran over to you. "(Y/N)!" A person holding a book yelled, she was a reporter, "How did you become mortal? What was it like? Why did you choose such an old age?"

You didn't respond and went to stand up to get away. However, more people crowded around. The reporters who you were sure followed you to the coffee shop threw question after question at you.

"Did you almost die?"

"Would you have died?"

"How did you get your immortality back?"

You were trying to push through them, but they wouldn't break you. Camera flashes were going off in your face and the shouting only got louder.

"(Y/N)!" A familiar voice shouted. You looked quickly and saw Pietro wave his hand. "I didn't know you were here!" He smiled and easily pushed some reporters out of the way. "Here, Tony just finished his conference and sent me to find you because he had some things to talk to you about. Good thing you're right here!" Pietro put his arm around you as he talked. "Can we run?" He said a little quieter. It was obvious that you were uncomfortable in the crowd of reporters and could barely even speak. Nodding to him, he swiftly picked you up and took off running.

He stopped running once he reached the base. "I'll never be used to that," You laughed when he set you down.

"I thought you have used my power before?" Pietro raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah, but it's not the same thing. You definitely go faster than I ever have and it's insane how fast you go," You told him, smiling a little.

Pietro nodded, understanding what you meant. "I kinda lied about Tony-"

"Yeah, I figured. Thank you, though," You hugged him quickly, then both of you headed inside the base together.

Walking around aimlessly, you ended up in the common room to find a few of your friends sitting on the couches. You looked at Rhodes, Sam, and Natasha as they watched the news play on the TV. Somehow, the news station had gotten footage from the Avengers base and the fight with the Silver Shadow, showing the world how he was defeated.

"Great, you're back!" Sam said. "Get me a glass of water."

"I'm not your slave," You rolled your eyes and fell onto the couch between him and Natasha.

Sam pouted, then looked at Pietro. "Maximoff, get me a glass of water."

Groaning, Pietro quickly ran into the kitchen to get Sam some water. "Thanks," Sam nodded with a smirk as Pietro also sat down in another seat.

Honestly, you're hurting more than anyone thought you were. You watched the news that was playing the fight clips over and over, zooming in on you finishing Silver Shadow off. Once you saw his face, all the memories over the past few days came flashing into your mind. Your throat felt like it was closing up when you tried to stop the tears from becoming visible, and it only made you hurt more. You couldn't get the thought of Bucky dying out of your mind and everything that happened.

And all you could think of was how the Silver Shadow is in the basement dungeon, still alive, and awaiting a visit from someone. He was still living, in a content condition, while your love was killed by him. You just wish the rest of his life would be complete hell.

"Are you okay, (Y/N)?" Natasha raised her eyebrow, noticing the change in your body language. Your knees were up to your chest and you were staring at the floor with a pale face. It was obvious that something was bothering you, but when you opened your mouth to speak, nothing came out.

Luckily, though, you didn't have to speak because Thor walked in talking at a million miles an hour and very loudly. "I'm leaving for Asgard tomorrow!" Thor walked in. Sometimes, you wonder if he has ever entered a room quietly. But if it weren't for Thor being the loud, adorable person that he is, everything would probably be a lot more awkward.

"Does that mean you and Loki are taking our lovely guest with you?" Rhodey asked.

"No, it will be just me taking the Silver Shadow back. Loki has requested to stay a little longer, and Stark approved it," Thor explained. "Something about Loki wanting to get better and by staying here he feels he could be of help- I don't know, but I think he is trusted by Stark now, so that's a good thing,"

"Really?" You sat up, surprised that you were actually able to speak without your voice breaking. "That's awesome," You smiled, happy that Loki would be sticking around. He liked your company and seeing him getting better was a nice sight.

Maybe everything was falling into place.

Even though everything still hurt, it would get there eventually.


	26. August 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor decides to leave to take the Silver Shadow to Asgard, but Loki stays. Now that Loki has cleaned up his act, you offer to spend the day together; going shopping and ending up at a cafe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love loki, you best bet i gave him a redemption arc. Sorry this is being posted so late, when I wrote it last night I was not happy with it, but looking at it today I realize it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Bear with me, my life is getting super busy right now.

To be completely honest, you were really happy that Loki was getting better. He seemed to really change his mind about Earth and he was a great help in defeating the Silver Shadow. But, you were surprised that Tony allowed him to stay- but he must have noticed how much Loki has changed as well. Which is great for you to start working on continuing growing a friendship with him.

This morning you and the rest of the team saw Thor off. You attacked him in a giant bear hug and promised to visit Asgard as soon as you could, which he was excited to hear. He had no idea how long he would be gone for, and you would miss having him around. Ever since Thor arrived on Earth you two remained friends, and you would never let the bond split up that easily.

You let go of the hug and saw the evil look of the Silver Shadow's eyes standing back, being surrounded by Tony and Steve if anything were to happen. He was in the same locks Loki was put in when he was captured for the Battle of New York. With one last yell of "goodbye!" Thor and the Silver Shadow vanished into the portal to Asgard.

"I'm sure it won't be long before he returns," Loki told you.

"Good, because I tend to miss him very easily."

Loki laughed quietly and turned to walk back with the rest of the team. "Hey," You called, stopping him from moving. "Do you want to walk around New York? Maybe get something to eat?"

He looked a little shocked that you were inviting him, someone who tried to take over the world, to walk around the city and hang out. But he came to his senses and realized that you forgave him, and accepted. "Great! Because I've been dying to get you a new wardrobe since I found out you would be staying here longer. You need an upgrade."

"Excuse me?" He scoffed.

"You heard me. You have to fit in with the New Yorkers, Loki, we could do some light shopping."

He shook his head, knowing that even if he tried to fight it, you would win. So doing the smart thing, Loki agreed to let you get him some clothes. Now, getting him to wear them anytime besides today, that was going to be a bit harder.

\---

It was nice to see the public not scurrying away from Loki like they would have two months ago. You were sure that most everyone has seen the fight footage, and they now knew that Loki was trying to help. Sure, he was still intimidating, especially in his Asgardian attire, but they weren't running away in fear.

But now here the two of you were, walking around a clothes store trying to find something to look good on Loki. You grabbed a few pairs of jeans and some shirts; flannels, t-shirts, dress shirts, and finally a few nicer things, including a suit.

To say the least, you had a fashion show. You started off with the outfits you thought he would decline, and he did. He decided flannels were not the right idea, but liked the dark shirts because they were comfortable and fit well. It was the same way with some of the jeans, but some he declined quickly.

Then, you got to the one you just wanted to see him try on for fun. It was an all black suit, that was paired with a black tie and a black shirt under as well. Loki  _loved_  the suit, and asked to buy it on the spot. Of course, you took one of Tony's credit cards and decided that yes, Loki looked amazing in the suit and it was worth the money. And you bought him the other shirts and jeans he also liked.

Loki liked the suit so much, he actually ended up wearing it out of the store and through the rest of the day. You two arrived at the small hole-in-the-wall cafe and you ordered your regular drink and Loki tried to figure out what he wanted, but ended up getting a black coffee. You also ordered some cookies to celebrate Loki being all dressed up.

"I have to say, Loki," You started and took a bite of a cookie, "You really rock the full black ensemble."

"Why thank you, (Y/N)," He said and held his cookie up as if he were toasting it. 

Smiling, you two began talking about all the random things. Sometimes you just mentioned someone walking outside the cafe, sometimes about a random song you enjoy, and sometimes complaining about Tony and the non-stop texts. And you remembered Loki doesn't have a phone, which would have to change sooner than later. But you didn't have the energy to teach him how to use it today, so maybe another day.

"Oh, it looks like Tony wants us back for real. Says he has something important to talk to you about," You nodded and stood up, both of you going to walk out and make your way back to the base.

Once you arrived, you were ready to just disappear into your room so you could catch up on some sleep and mourn a little more. But instead, Tony and Steve met you at the door. 

"Give me my credit card back."

"Why didn't you get me a cookie?"

You burst out laughing. "I can't believe that's what you guys were worried about. I mean, look, I styled Loki to fit in with your card, Tony! And Steve, we would have gotten you a cookie, but  _someone_  texted me he urgently needed us back," You explained, giving a side look at Tony.

"You're the worst," Steve glared and Tony, and walked off. Without a word, Tony stuck his hand out waiting for his card- which he received.

"Cool, now Loki, Bruce and I need to speak with you in the lab."

And you were alone again, finally able to sneak back to your room to hide under a mountain of blankets. But in the lab, Bruce and Tony had a hundred books spread around. "How do we create the medicine to help (Y/N)?"

Loki nodded, understanding why things were so urgent. "I've been thinking about it, and gathering information from the source herself without her even knowing it. Now, it could be difficult and I might need to make a quick trip back to Asgard for some ingredients that don't exist here, but that's the easy part. It's actually making sure it works that's the hard part," Loki rambled. He walked over and started to pick bottles up, moving about ten to a center table. "We will need all of these. Let me write out what I think we need, and contact Heimdall to get back."

"I only understand half of what you're writing," Tony said as he peered over what Loki was writing on a paper. "But I say go for it. If it could help, let's do it."

And Loki quickly headed off to Asgard, leaving the other two in anticipation. They had no idea what Loki was planning for this medicine, but they had to have trust in him- and for some reason, they did have trust in him. 


	27. August 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day to yourself, you and Wanda get to talking about your past. She learns your past includes Shakespeare, being a witch, Houdini, and flappers. Loki returns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LOVE THIS ONE. I AM SO PLEASED WITH IT. and i think it could be so cool for living for 1800 years- imagine all the things you could do! Here's me talking about some of the cool things that could have happened if you lived that long, yay.

"I remember this one time where Pietro and I played hide-and-seek with our parents in the town, and we hid for an hour. That was... until the shop owner told us they had to close and we were forced to lose the game," Wanda laughed lightly.

You smiled at her memory. "That's so cool. I wish I had a sibling to do all those things with."

"Yeah, but he gets really annoying. You've lived for 1800 years, and I'm sure you've seen so many things!"

You nodded with a shrug. "I have a million stories. Before the world was threatened by villains, I was pretty normal. Did you know I was friends with Shakespeare?"

"You were?" Wanda's eyes went wide. "You have to tell me all about it!"

You laughed and started to remember the story. "This was the late 1500s, right? I had done a lot of moving around and actually trying to figure out where I fit in, and when I got to England there was a performance of Romeo and Juliet going on. And I actually knew Shakespeare from his before because I lived in England then, too. So we were already acquaintances and I helped keep him sane when he was writing. We weren't the best of friends, but we got along insanely well. He liked writing, I liked listening and brought him back to reality when he needed it. And when I told him I was leaving, he told me if I ever returned I was to go see him first. The night I came back I saw Romeo and Juliet and stuck around after the play was over, looking for my long-lost friend," You told the quick version of the story.

"He was excited to see me, I was excited to see him. He was married now, and his wife was so fun to talk to. They let me stay with them until I was able to find my own place and we went back to being great friends," You said. "He tried to get me to write something, but everything I ever had an idea for never got finished," You giggled. "It was a tragedy when he died, and I ended up moving away again. That's one thing that sucks with being immortal- you have to watch all your friends die."

Wanda had wide eyes as she listened to you talk quickly about your past. "Where did you go when you left England the first time?" She asked.

"Well, I ended up in Switzerland," You said. "This was like the 1580s, and I already spoke many different languages. I wasn't quite sure why I chose Switzerland, but it worked for a few years. This was actually before Shakespeare got big for his plays, but you know, that doesn't matter," You told her. "Here's where it get's interesting: someone had seen me accidentally use my powers when I was almost crushed by a tree falling over. That sent the town into peril, claiming I was a witch. It took them years to find enough proof to do something about it, but they eventually did. They captured me and determined they would burn me at the stake. It was insane!" You laughed.

"But alas, since I can't die, my body figured out a way for me to get out of there. I turned invisible and it actually looked like I was burnt to death, and then I escaped out of Switzerland. I ended up country-hopping for a while, then just ended up back in England."

Wanda was giggling now. "You were a witch? I'm the Scarlet Witch!" She laughed and held her hand up for a high-five, which you gladly gave her. "What else did you witness?"

"I was in America the same time the founding fathers were. That...was insane," You laughed. "The Revolutionary War...oh gosh, so much happened. That's a hard one to talk about because I wasn't actually involved in it...I just was in New York while everything was going on. Just a fact, though, Hamilton is definitely not everything that happened," You nodded to confirm what you were saying.

Wanda shrugged a bit. "Of course not, it has to be entertaining."

"I was also a magician," You raised your eyebrow.

"Oh my gosh, tell me all about it."

You thought of how you got started. "By this time, I was back visitng England because I spent a lot of time there," You giggled. "Honestly, it was all an accident. Another person saw me using my powers when I didn't think anyone was around, and it was magic like yours- you know how it looks, like the energy- and they came up to me and handed me money for my amazing street magic. It was like 1900 when Houdini became big, and it was only a few years after that that I was discovered. I couldn't just disapprove it- I needed a way to make money. I somehow ended up booking shows at some random venues and started to grow a following," You explained.

Continuing on, you thought of how crazy your life had been. "And I got pretty popular. I got as big as Houdini- but all of it was thanks to my powers...which no one knew I had. When I got popular, Houdini actually approached me saying we should do a show together to 'prove who the best magician is,'" You moved your fingers to reference quotes around the saying. "People would make bets and we split the money evenly. For the record, we tied."

Wanda loved hearing all your stories. You have a story for every situation, and most times hate talking about your past. You don't want to make it sound like you're bragging or anything of the sort, so it's a lot easier when someone asks about it. "That's so amazing," Wanda awed. "And you know so many languages...I'm jealous!" She groaned.

"Oh yeah, learning and knowing all the languages is one of my favorite things about being immortal," You smiled. "Did you know I was a flapper?" You smirked.

" _What_?" Wanda's jaw dropped. She knew a lot of history about America, and learning about the 1920s was one of her favorites. "I can't believe you were a flapper!"

You laughed, and you still had some of your dressed from back then in bags that hadn't been opened in years. "I wasn't as intense as many other women were, but I was definitely involved in the movement. Do you want to see my favorite dress?"

" _You have it?_ "

"Of course! Here, follow me, it's in storage," You and Wanda stood up to go to the basement that held most of the storage, and you knew exactly where your few flapper dresses that you still had. The two of you walked past a room with a bunch of windows, and jumped when you saw a bright light appear out of no where, but calmed down once you realized it was just the portal coming from Asgard.

Loki walked back inside with a bag in his hands. "Loki? I wasn't aware you went to Asgard."

He smiled and shrugged. "It was a quick trip," You noticed he was wearing the suit again. "And I'm back now."

"Well, welcome back. Wanda and I will be in the storage area, if anyone needs us," You told him, and the two of you walked away without anymore words.


	28. August 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day to relax! Steve is avoiding you, you're catching on. You get some time to walk around the city alone, that is until Tony calls you with an urgent message.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't have much to say for this one except that i cannot believe it's almost over. and i love foreshadowing.

You finally got a good nights sleep after all the stress and fighting was over. It was an easy day yesterday, which you desperately needed. And you were hoping today would be the same way, with little stress and just a day to relax and move on a little happier.

Walking into the kitchen with your pajamas on and your hair unbrushed, you went to make breakfast. Making breakfast as in pouring cereal and getting some juice to drink, not too much to stuff yourself. You had plans to go out and treat yourself to a nice meal after all you've been through.

"Morning, (Y/N)," Tony smiled when he walked in the kitchen behind you, getting a mug out of the cupboard to get coffee.

"Hey, Tony," You smiled. "What are you up to today?"

Tony shrugged and set his mug down. "The usual, you know, working in the lab. Loki said he had some ideas for improvements and I decided to give him a shot."

"I never thought Loki would actually be welcomed on our team, but I am really glad he is," You marveled. "We've come a long way."

Tony opened his mouth to speak, but you jumped up when someone else entered the room. "Steve! Hey, how are you?" You smiled wide.

"H-hey, (Y/N)," Steve forced a smile out. "I-uh, bathroom-" Steve motioned around with his hands and immediately ran out of the room.

You groaned and looked to Tony. "Do you know why Steve is avoiding me?"

"Why do you think he's avoiding you?" Tony raised his eyebrow.

You gave him a look that clearly meant  _duh_ , and started to imitate him. "I-uh, bathroom!" You moved your hands around just as he did. "He's avoiding me, Tony. The question is: why?"

Tony laughed a bit and picked up his coffee. "I have no idea. Sounds like a (Y/N) and Steve problem. Not a (Y/N), Steve, and Tony problem. So, I'll see you later," Tony nodded once and walked out while drinking his coffee. He just so happened to run into Steve on his way back to the lab. "What the hell was that? (Y/N) is suspecting things."

"I'm a terrible liar."

"Sure..." Tony rolled his eyes.

Steve sighed. "Let me rephrase that. I'm a terrible liar to (Y/N). She knows when something's up and she gives me that look, and she always gets the truth out of me. So, naturally, I have to avoid her."

Tony patted Steve's shoulder and chuckled once more. "Hopefully it's just one more day, Steve, one more day."

\---

Deciding you didn't need the fancy lunch to treat yourself, you instead got a bunch of chocolate chip cookies from your favorite bakery and a hot dog from a cart on the street. "Nothing beats the New York hot dogs," You mumbled to yourself as you ate your food and continued walking. Right now you were enjoying the cool air that was unusual for August, as well as just the noises of the busy city.

You observed the people walking around and almost choked on your hot dog when you saw a man wearing a hoodie. It was hard for you to keep your eye on him, as a bus passed in front and when you went to look again, he vanished. For some reason, the man looked like Bucky, but you were sure it was just your mind messing with you- again. Ever since he died you had been seeing Bucky in places he wasn't, and even though it kind of hurt your heart, sometimes it was a good reminder that he would always be there for you...watching over.

Before long, your time alone was interrupted by Tony calling you and asking you to return to the compound, and he needed you urgently. Thinking there was a problem, you got back as fast as you could. As it turns out, it wasn't as urgent as he made it sound, they just wanted to run some tests.

"Loki took a trip to Asgard," Tony started, "And had an idea to improve how your powers work. It's a kind of medicine, yeah? We've been working on it for a while now and it's finally ready. This should help you a lot more than you think," Tony explained quickly.

"Okay, but what is it exactly?" You raised your eyebrow.

Loki stepped up and showed you the bottle that had the mixture in it. There wasn't a lot and you were sure it would be given via shot, so a lot wasn't exactly needed. "I'm aware that you can control magic like Miss Maximoff does from time to time, yes?" Loki asked and you nodded. "It will help make that stronger and easier to conjure up, as it only comes at random times as of now. And it will allow for your mimicking powers to last longer and be stronger as well," Loki explained. "It won't hurt, it will just take a few hours to kick in before you notice a change. It may also help us monitor your health better than before."

You looked to Bruce with wide eyes at this explanation. "Don't worry, it's safe."

No words came out of your mouth, but you rolled your eyes at the three boys and laid back on the table in the lab to let them put the medicine in you. You, being the strong person you are, took the shot with no flinching and sat up right as Tony said you could. "Cool, are we done here? Or do you have to run more tests?"

Loki looked to Tony, Tony looked to Bruce, and Bruce looked to Tony. "I think you're good," Tony concluded. "Just take it easy for a while until the medicine kicks in, all right?" He added.

"You got it," You jumped up off the table. "Ice cream and movie marathon with anyone who wants to join. I'm sure Wanda, Pietro, and Natasha will be in. Any of you coming?" You asked as you stood at the door.

"Sure. I'll be there in a few minutes once we wrap this up," Loki said.

"Me too," Tony nodded.

Bruce made a straight face and hummed. "I actually think I'm going to go to my room to relax. It's been a long day."

"Suit yourself," You smiled and turned to walk out to get the team gathered for movies and ice cream.

The three let out relieved sighs once the door shut. "I can't wait for this to be over," Tony gasped.

"I can't wait to stop lying to her face," Bruce added.

"I can't wait to reveal it all," He smirked. "She's gonna kill us, you know that , right?" He asked.

The two nodded. "Definitely," They said at the same time.


	29. August 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day another lunch with Loki. He brings up a sensitive topic and can't take it anymore: he has to show you what the team has been hiding from you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there has been so much angst in this story that i need fluff. i think it's obvious now that this story will have a happy ending. yay!

"He's still avoiding me, Tony," You glared as you caught up with Tony as he walked through the compound. "I want answers."

"I don't know what you're talking about, (Y/N)?" Tony laughed.

You crossed your arms and stood in front of him to stop him from walking. "Steve. He is the worst liar I have ever met," You cocked your eyebrow. "This morning when I ran into him in the hallway I asked him what he was doing he told me he was going to feed his laundry. Then ran into the wall."

Tony laughed and patted your shoulder as he listened to you. "That's Steve for you- weird."

"Yeah, but he's not usually  _this_  weird. Something's going on and I know you know what it is," You walked around him. "So, spill."

Tony sighed and rubbed his temples. "The thing is (Y/N)..." He looked around. "I can't tell you yet. We need to make sure everything will turn out, okay? Just give me a little more time and-"

"Whatever," You rolled your eyes. "Loki promised me he'd go to lunch with me today. Maybe I'll get something out of him," You scoffed and went to go find the trickster god, easily running into him not even ten minutes later.

\---

Loki was loving the new wardrobe you got him. Yesterday he wore some jeans and a perfect fit t-shirt, but today, since he knew he was going out, he resorted back to the black suit that looked so well on him. 

"So, how have you been feeling?" Loki asked as he took a bite of the pizza the two of you ordered. He's learning to try more Midgardian food, and so far he seems to be enjoying it. "You know, with everything that's happened."

You shrugged and took a bite of pizza as well. "It all still hurts, but it's getting easier. I've been talking to Wanda and Natasha about it since you and the others have been so busy, but I think I'm finally starting to feel better," You nodded to confirm. "I miss him like hell, though. Like, I just got him back, and within a few weeks he was gone again." 

Loki looked down at his food. "Yeah, that's got to be hard," He didn't make eye contact. "Sorry, I was trying to imagine the feeling and I can't come up with it."

"I wouldn't wish the feeling of losing the one you love upon anyone. It hurts so much more than you could ever imagine," You whispered. "C-can we change topics?" You asked, afraid you were going to start crying. "Like...what are you and Tony and Steve hiding from me? And is Bruce involved too?"

Loki didn't respond, he just kept staring down at the table. "Loki?" You asked, unsure if he even heard you the first time. "Hello?"

"We have to get back to the base," Loki stood up suddenly. "There's something I have to show you," Loki stated and quickly grabbed your hand, pulling you out of your chair and began marching back to the car, getting in the passenger's seat.

You started the car and looked at Loki with a concerned face. "What's gotten into you?"

Loki was still quiet and it looked like he was trying to think of what to say. "Can you drive us back to the base and call Tony so I can talk to him?" He asked. You did as he wished and put Tony on the car speaker and Loki called out to him. "Stark, it's Loki. Look, I know it's going to work. We're on our way back, be prepared," Loki said, and Tony only replied with a quick  _okay_ and hung up.

"Playing the pronoun game?" You raised your eyebrow and laughed.

"Unintentionally."

The rest of the drive was silent and you were a little scared of what was to come when you got back to the base. You had no idea what caused Loki's mood to change quickly and why tension filled the car. But alas, the tension stopped once you got back to the base and he walked quickly inside with you trailing behind. "(Y/N), you know how we were talking about how much you miss Bucky?" Loki asked.

"Yeah..." You answered wearily. "Why?"

"Well, he's not actually...dead," Loki blurted out in a whisper.

our eyes widened and you choked on your spit, causing you to have a coughing fit. "What? Can you say that again? I'm not sure I heard you-"

"Bucky isn't dead," Loki cut you off and grabbed your arm to drag you to the lab. "I promise. He's right there, healthier than ever."

You looked dead straight at Bucky, your jaw dropping and freezing when you saw his face. He was talking to Tony, Steve, and Bruce, leaning back on one of the many tables in the lab. He was smiling and his hair was cut down, shorter like it used to be, but not as clean cut. He was wearing clothes that seemed to be new, some jeans and a random band t-shirt that he had probably never heard of- but he looked comfortable.

After a minute of you staring at him, he moved his head ever-so-slightly to get a look at you. His face began to glow and his smile grew bigger. He strated running, he ran around tables and through the door, engulfing you in a big hug and kissing your cheek. "I'm so sorry I had to do that to you," He whispered over and over in your ear. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

You were in shock. Looking at your hands, you were confused why your skin wasn't becoming lighter and you weren't getting weaker. You were confused why your breathing was staying the same and not becoming tighter, why you felt exactly like you did when you are-

"How...how am I immortal?" You croaked out. "I know I'm still in love with you, Bucky, I just know. But- how?" You asked.

"The medicine we gave you yesterday," Bruce interrupted. "It was a cure. Loki said there are always loopholes to those types of things, and with a quick trip to Asgard, he was able to figure out a way to stop the side effect of love. You'll stay immortal no matter who you love," Bruce explained.

But honestly, you stopped listening halfway through. A smile grew on your face and tears began pouring out your eyes. "I love you," You hugged Bucky as you cried. "I can't believe you're here," You added.

It was an emotional day. You had your love back and you were never going to give him up again. You were able to stay yourself; helpful and healthy, and you were able to love. You were more than excited to be able to have your boyfriend back, and that he was actually alive. It felt amazing, and the rest of the day the two of you sat on your bed talking about everything and anything, catching up and reminscing. 

But the best part was just laying there in each other's arms as you played your favorite music, happy to finally have something good happen to you.


	30. August 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki finally explains how Bucky is still alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda angst but mostly cute. LOKI POV!!! I LOVE LOKI!!!

You and a few members of the team sat on the couches in front of Loki. Currently, Steve and Bucky were out getting fresh air while they ran around the track then would go into town to buy more clothes for his wardrobe.

"After the plan of telling (Y/N) Bucky didn't love her, we knew we had to do our backup plan. We really didn't want to, but you were almost dead, (Y/N)," Loki started, "So we had to kill Bucky."

Tony rolled his eyes and laughed. "It sounds so much worse when you say it like that."

Everyone giggled a bit when he said that but went to back to looking at Loki in a second. "I'm a master of illusions and tricks. We took hours trying to create a Bucky illusion that looked exactly like him so no one could tell he was an illusion-"

Loki began to remember the day vividly. It was implanted in his brain, somewhat traumatizing. It pained him as well, since the illusion had to die and he had to make it look like he was crushed to death. Even though he didn't show that he was hurting, his mind hurt for days after and it took a lot of mental focus and breaks to regain his healthy mind.

_Keeping an illusion up for so long was something Loki had barely done before. Usually, they were just for the quick trick or to confuse someone long enough for him to get what he needed, but this time he needed it to last long enough to make everything believable. He was worried he wouldn't be able to carry it. He had to pretend like he had no idea what was going on, while feeding words to the fake Bucky, and make it look like he died. Loki was doubting himself._

_It was time. The Silver Shadow appeared and just as Loki, Tony, and Steve thought, he had more than just his army._

_"I'm sure you'd all love to know what it can do-" The Silver Shadow began. Loki had to act fast, trying to anger the villain as quick as possible._

_He thought about what to say and within a second, fake Bucky was saying it. "Yeah, and you know what? I bet you won't even show us," He made Bucky laugh and cross his arms, all while rolling his eyes. "Because it's all you've ever done. You tell us about all these things you have planned, hoping it will scare us away," Loki made Bucky continue._

_Loki heard Sam whisper something to him, but Loki was so focused he didn't quite hear what was said. He was trying to think of what to say next, focusing to keep the illusion straight and as realistic as possible. "For all we know, you don't have anything! Besides an army that can easily be hacked and destroyed by the stuff in the web fluid, we aren't sure you are all powerful," Loki didn't give Bucky a break. He was afraid if he stopped Bucky, someone would cut in and try to protect him, or Silver Shadow wouldn't take it seriously._

_"All I know about you is that you have some small powers and an easy-to-beat army. You really think you can take on us, as a whole team, and expect to come out victorious?" Loki made Bucky yell this, only angering the villain more, just what he wanted._

_The Silver Shadow laughed loudly and almost distracted Loki. "Oh, so you want proof that I know what I'm doing, do you?" He called._

_Loki watched Pietro cut in, and try to protect Bucky, but it didn't work. Silver Shadow was already too angry and Loki was getting what he wanted. "I'll show you what I can do!" He shouted, and the machine move._

_Loki wasn't quite sure what was happening. He was so focused on making it look like Bucky was killed that anything else happening was hard to focus on and he had to put everything he had in making it look believable._

_It hurt every time Bucky was shot. Loki's head was killing him and he could feel himself getting weaker, but he had to continue to ensure that the plan would work and everyone would believe Bucky was dead._

_Now, the fake Bucky was dead on the ground, not moving. Loki was trying to strengthen his mind when the dead, fake Bucky got a break, but he still wasn't hearing what the rest of his team was saying. Loki heard Wanda yell, and then the Silver Shadow retreated._

_Everyone was silent, staring at Bucky's lifeless body. Loki tried his hardest to look physically and mentally okay, when he was exactly the opposite. "I... I'll take him inside," Steve said, catching Loki's attention._

_"I'll help you," Loki nodded and walked over to Steve, helping take Bucky inside. Once they were clear and were sure no one else would walk in, Loki got rid of the illusion and fell to the floor. "Oh my," He murmured as he sat on the floor._

_Steve looked worried. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"_

_"It's just a lot," Loki breathed heavily. "I haven't had to do something like that in a long time. It's mentally draining and not the healthiest."_

_"W- what?" Steve raised his eyebrow. "Why did you do it then if you knew it would hurt you?"_

_"Calm down, America," Loki laughed a little and stood up. "I'm fine. It'll only be a few hours of recovery and maybe a few days of not using heavy magic. The important thing is if it saved (Y/N)," Loki looked in the direction of the recovery room._

_They took off running and when they arrived, Tony was blocking the door and was surrounded by a few people- Bruce, Wanda, and Natasha. "What's going on?" Loki asked._

_"She's back," Wanda whispered. "Heartbroken, but she's back."_

Loki retold the story, feeling bad when he saw you tear up when talking about Bucky's death. But he was happy to set things straight, finally have a cure for you, and bring your love back.

As if it were on cue, Steve and Bucky walked through the door. They had towels hanging from around their necks and it was obvious they had just got back from their run. "We didn't make it to getting more clothes," Steve announced. "That may be a (Y/N) job."

"What is going on in here?" Bucky laughed as he looked at most of the team sitting around the common room.

You smiled. "Loki was telling us what went down when I got my powers back. It seemed a lot of us were curious how you're actually alive," You concluded. "Goddamn, I'm so happy you're alive."

Bucky smirked. "Happy enough for a hug?"

"Not with that sweat! No thank you!" You stood up and walked away from him, but Bucky only walked closer. "I'm serious, Buck, don't do it!"

"She will kill you," Natasha shouted, but you and Bucky were already out of the room as you ran away from him. "Okay, but seriously, his hair looks great like that. And to see him weraing something not Winter Soldier-like is pretty great."

Steve smiled and walked across the room. "I'm just glad it's becoming like it used to be," He said, "Happy."


	31. August 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long and eventful month, but now you finally have a perfect day to relax and spend with your love. Through training and food, a lot of fluff ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im cryiNG THIS IS THE LAST PART?? also, notice that the series began with training and now it's ending with it- full circle!!! gosh, i love this story. I had this idea in my head for months before I actually wrote it and I am insanely pleased with how it turned out. I would like to thank you all for reading, if you stuck through all 31 parts and over 35k words! Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoyed! I will get back to regular fic posts pretty soon!
> 
> If you'd like more, feel free to check out my tumblr: [That-Sokovian-Bastard](http://that-sokovian-bastard.tumblr.com/) for updates, random rambles, and headcanons exclusive to tumblr!

"You're pulling your punches," You crossed your arms. "Come on, hit it hard!" You yelled at Bucky as he continued to hit the punching bag. "Just because you're a super-soldier doesn't mean you can get away without practicing."

Bucky laughed a little and grunted as he began to hit the bag harder. "(Y/N), let's take a break, all right?" He asked and stepped away from the bag. "We deserve it."

"I guess, but you never know what could be coming-"

"And that's why we need to cherish the present. We don't know what could be coming or what could happen," Bucky started and walked closer to you, putting his arm around your shoulders, "Who could die or what could change; we have to value the time we have now," Bucky said.

You nodded, but raised your eyebrow. "When did you get so philosophical?"

"Dying a few times make you think different," He kissed your forehead and guided you over to the bench to sit down, "I miss the old days," He sighed.

Shrugging, you silently agreed. "Me too, but I like where we are today. We're helping the world, and we're together again. I mean, I may not have Peggy or Howard, but now I've got more people who treat me like family- not to mention I still have you and Steve."

Bucky hugged you closer. "I don't know what I'd do without you," He told you and kissed your head again. "Now, what did you want to work on next?"

"I want to prove that I can kick your ass," You grinned, and Bucky gave you a confused look. "What? Don't you remember back in the 40s I would always say I was ready to fight? Then you and Steve made fun of me because you would probably beat me?" You smirked, "I'm ready to spar."

Bucky laughed a bit, but stood up. "Consider yourself lucky, I just stood up for you and I was getting comfortable."

"On a bench?"

"Yes."

You rolled your eyes and stood up, standing across from your official boyfriend. Before, it wasn't talked about what you two were; everyone knew you were still in love, but there were more pressing issues. Now that everything is okay again, you made it official to date again.

The two of you stood across from one another and you were ready to fight. You counted down, and sprang at him when he yelled "GO!" He already declared that you couldn't use your powers, as that was cheating, but you were sure you would win anyway.

You threw punches and dodged his. It seemed like a fair, balanced fight, but then you started to take it up a notch. You dropped to the ground and kicked his leg, making him unstable and Buck fell on the floor. You stood over him and dropped down to sit on his waist. "I think I won," You smiled, crossing your arms and holding your head high as if you were bragging.

Bucky smiled. He looked at you with love in his eyes and he reached his hands up to place them on your shoulders and around your neck. "I think I'm the real winner," He whispered and sat up a little to kiss you.

"You're cheesy," You said when the small, quick kiss broke away. "But I guess it's cute," You shrugged and got off of Bucky, offering him your hand to help him up. "Wanna go raid the fridge?"

"Of course I do," Bucky said, looking you dead in the eyes. "Let's go!" He took off running.

The door slammed open, nearly hitting Tony. "Watch where you crazy kids are going!" Tony shouted.

"Sorry!" You yelled back as you chased after Bucky. It was obvious that Bucky was trying to beat you there, probably to redeem himself from losing against you.

You took a sharp turn around the corner and nearly ran into Loki. "Whoops, sorry!" You said and tried to get around him, but he moved the same time you did, blocking you more than once. Then you moved back, as did he.

"Shall we dance?" Loki asked, causing you to laugh and eventually just push him out of the way.

Meanwhile, Bucky actually ran into Natasha, causing both of them to land on the floor, Bucky laughing and Natasha angered. You, however, ran past Bucky while he was laughing on the floor. "Sorry, Nat!" Bucky said and stood up once he saw you, "But I can't let (Y/N) win again!"

As it turns out, the two of you ended up in the kitchen at the same time, but you came through different doors. "I think this proves one thing," You started.

"That we should watch where we're going and not run into our friends?" Bucky asked.

"Okay, two things. One being that, the other being: we are insane," You added.

The familiar noise of Wanda laughing came into the room. "Can confirm that."

"But we're all insane, so it works well," Pietro followed into the room. "Hey, just so we're on the right record: (Y/N), sorry for trying to flirt with you. Bucky, I didn't mean it. I didn't even know you were alive then and I just want to make sure you won't use that against me one day and try to murder me," Pietro rambled.

Both you and Bucky laughed a bit and you shrugged. "It's all right. Besides, I don't go for cocky speedsters. I have to go for the lamest guy I can," You told him. "Why else do you think I love Bucky?"

" _That_  was uncalled for."

\---

"Again," You said and had Bucky hit the punching bag. "Hit it harder this time."

"What do you think I'm doing, (Y/N)?" He chuckled to himself.

"Not hitting hard enough," You clarified. He hit the bag again, but not how you wanted him to. You felt like his punches were getting sloppy and would be less impactful. "Okay, what if I told you when I went out the other night this guy grabbed my butt?"

Bucky punched the bag exactly like you wanted him to. " _What_?"

You laughed. "That was a good one! Do it again!" You encouraged.

"(Y/N), what happened?" Bucky asked.

"Oh, I was lying," You laughed and Bucky groaned, going back to punching. "Hey, I was thinking-"

Bucky quickly cut you off. "That sounds painful."

"It was. But, I was thinking, you remember how long we dated before, right?" You asked.

Bucky nodded and hit the bag one more time before he stopped and looked at you, rubbing his knuckles. "Yeah, seven years, why?"

"I was thinking...maybe this time...since everything is different and, you know...ugh," You were having a hard time wording it, but you were just trying to explain it all. "Maybe we could actually get married."

Bucky's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped, but it quickly turned into a big smile. "I think that's a good idea," He said and pulled you into a hug, kissing the top of your head once more. "A really, really good use of the painful thinking."  
  
  


** THE END **


End file.
